


The Sound of His Heartbeat

by mylifeforthelore



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-17
Updated: 2019-12-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 01:27:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 29,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21829087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mylifeforthelore/pseuds/mylifeforthelore
Summary: **Repost of my 2008 Self-Insert Fanfic, it used to be on ff.net**A courier ninja with no memory of her past, rescued and trained by Kabuto in the Sound Village.It's a self-insert fic, of course they fall in love, and of course Kabuto is a bit OOC.There's a small crossover with Killua from HunterXHunter but not enough to tag.There's a TINY bit of smut in the chapter "First Draft Bonuses", skip it if you don't want it.
Relationships: Orochimaru & Yakushi Kabuto, Yakushi Kabuto/Original Character(s)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1





	1. The First Draft

**Author's Note:**

> This was written in 2008/2009, it's all over the place and the plot was just starting to be figured out when I gave up on it. I'm posting it mainly for teh lulz and also to see if anyone remembers it, since it used to get comments back in the day.  
> Anyways it's a mess but I'm still fond of it, have fun!

"Ugh. So heavy." I grunted, picking up the basket of medicine and lugging it out the door. Outside, the sun was just barely setting, darkness descending on the village of Sound. I looked up at the sky, seeing only a few stars and the faint glow of a full moon.  
"Good evening, Kori-chan." came a voice I knew all too well from my right. As much as I heard him speak, his voice still made me melt on the inside.  
"Same to you, Kabuto-kun." I said, lowering my head to look into his beautiful gray eyes.  
"Moon's beautiful tonight, isn't it? Reminds me of you when you're working at peace." Kabuto said, giving me that smirk I loved so much. I felt a blush rise on my face and placed a hand on my cheek.  
"Kabuto, you flatter me too much..." I said, which made him laugh.  
"Oh, Kori-chan. You get embarrassed too easily. Or am I just too good at knowing how to make you blush?" He smirked again and leaned one hand on the low wall between us. All he got out of me was a deeper blush, which made his laugh turn into a chuckle.  
"Would you like to walk together?" He asked, climbing over the wall and standing behind me, close enough for his warm breath to tickle the back of my neck. I let out a small gasp and prayed he didn't hear. I heard his chuckle.  
"Come now, Kori-chan... I don't have that much of an effect on you, do I?" He asked, leaning closer and brushing his fingers softly against the side of my neck. I swallowed forcefully and turned to face him, finding our faces at least three inches apart.  
"No, Kabuto. You don't." I said, lying straight-faced and readjusting the basket on my hip. A smile spread across his face and he ran the back of his fingers along my cheekbone.  
"Of course I don't. Now come with me, I have something for you back at the house." Kabuto grabbed my upper arm and I adjusted the basket again.  
"R-really now? What might this unexpected gift be?" I asked, turning my head to look into his eyes.  
"A night. Alone. With me." He said with that smirk again. My eyes widened.  
"K-kabuto... What are you planning...?" I asked, my voice growing small and frightened. Kabuto grabbed my wrist and pushed me up against a nearby wall.  
"Don't be frightened, my dear Kori... Do you really think I would hurt my own apprentice, let alone you?" He asked in a low tone, looking straight into my eyes and resting his forehead on mine. I felt the cool metal of his forehead protector press against my skin, cooling my blush for a moment.  
"N-no... you wouldn't..." I stammered my eyes still wide. His fingers caressed the side of my face and down my arm to the hand that was holding the basket.  
"See, Kori? I could never hurt you... I need you..." He said and his lips came closer to mine, his eyes closing and his other hand finding my shoulder. Melting at his touch, my eyes closed too and my breath caught. I felt an extremely light touch upon my lips and my heart started to pound.  
"K-kabuto..." I whispered, my eyes still closed.  
"Kori-chan, my pet, my dear, I need you to do something for me..." I heard Kabuto say and I felt another slight pressure on my lips.  
"A-anything, K-kabuto... What is it..?" My voice wavered, my mind screaming, 'you just kissed the man you love most in the entire universe! TWICE!'  
"Orochimaru-sama needs me to collect information on how to bring down a woman's guard easily. You're the only one fitting for the task..." Kabuto said as he kissed me lightly again.  
"T-that's not a fair test... You have too much of a hold on me..." I said, still keeping my eyes closed and silently praying for another kiss, but a deeper one. He laughed.  
"So you admit it... Kori-chan that's why I chose you. With any other girl the task would have been impossible to accomplish. You're the only person who drops their guard around Orochimaru-sama and I." He pushed a lock of my hair behind my ear and leaned close again. "Please, Kori-chan... I'll reward you." My heart skipped a beat and I opened my eyes.  
"I'll do it, Kabuto... But... What's my reward?" I asked, my mind clear and back in working order.  
"A true night alone. Is that good enough for you?" He asked, still keeping his face close to mine and holding my chin in his hand. I thought on that for a minute. I wanted nothing more than to be with Kabuto, the love of my life and my savior. Kabuto had found me two years ago outside the village nearly dead from blood loss. He had taken me back to Orochimaru-sama's hideout and healed me, staying by my side through it all and regretting leaving when he had to help Orochimaru-sama. He had earned my trust and my love while I was healing. Kabuto was my only love, and sometimes I swore he felt the same way back. Or at least I prayed for it.  
"As of the moment. But would you give me more if I asked for it?" I asked and looked straight into his eyes. His expression flashed confusion, then changed to his normal knowing-ness.  
"Kori-chan. You know how much I've already done for you, what more could you want from me?" He asked, leaning back and placing both his hands on my shoulders. I looked down, embarrassed at my own boldness.  
"I know, Kabuto... Th-there's just something that you should know." I glanced to the side, trying absentmindedly to avoid his eyes.  
"What, Kori? I thought I knew you, everything about you already. What do you have to tell me?" Kabuto pried, looking into my eyes and furrowing his brow. I swallowed again and looked back at him.  
"I... I'm in love with you. I have been since you rescued me. Since you brought me back to health. That's why you have such a powerful hold over me." I said, surprised at the sureness and confidence in my voice. His face softened and for once Kabuto was speechless. "Please, say something." I said, biting my lip.  
"I-I’m not sure what to say. I mean I always suspected, but...." He looked down and I laughed slightly in my mind.  
'I've made him embarrassed...' I thought, a small amount of smugness rising. 'This is payback...'  
"Kori. Even after all this, after all I've put you through, you still love me?" Kabuto looked back up into my eyes and I nodded. Kabuto had put me through grueling training sessions and long classes to learn ninja skills and medical skills. I was second only to Kabuto himself. But even with all that, I knew he just did it to make me stronger.  
"Yes. I still do. You saved my life, Kabuto, how could I not?" I looked down again and for a moment regretted telling him. To my utter surprise, Kabuto wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close, making me drop my basket. He tucked my head under his chin and whispered in my ear.  
"Kori-chan... I have something to tell you too." He said and I nodded.  
"Yes, Kabuto-kun? What is it?" I asked, wrapping my arms around his waist after a moment of hesitation. Kabuto let out a sigh and pulled back again. He looked me in the eyes and I saw something different in them. Something I hadn't seen before. Distress, and... Wait... love?  
"I can't tell you... Maybe... I can show you." He leaned closer to me and I got pushed up against the wall again. Kabuto held me by the shoulders and tipped his head down to rest his lips on mine again. But this time, it was different. It wasn't just a light touch to get me to do something for him. This was a true kiss. I could feel him trying to put more into it, trying to tell me he loved me back in his own way. His arms wrapped around me again and pulled me close. I was shocked at first, but then I faded into it, returning his kiss but still trying to hold myself back. I knew I couldn't let myself get carried away. But Kabuto let me. He put more of his heart into the kiss, more love. I felt his hand on the side of my face and my eyes fill with tears. I'd finally gotten what I'd wanted for two entire years. Kabuto loved me back. He felt the same way I did and was showing me. Kabuto pulled back from the kiss and wrapped his arms around me again. I kept my eyes closed and hid my face in his chest, trying to hide my utter elation.  
"I... I love you too Kori... I always have." Kabuto whispered and kissed the top of my head. My tears spilled over and fell on his shirt.  
"I'm so happy..." My voice was small and quiet against Kabuto's chest. Kabuto pulled back again and tipped my head up to look me in the eyes.  
"I am too. Now, dear, shall we continue with Orochimaru-sama's plan before I reduce you to tears again?" He said with a small smirk, the love still in his eyes. I wiped a tear off my cheek and a smile of my own worked its way across my face.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was written in 2008/2009, it's all over the place and the plot was just starting to be figured out when I gave up on it. I'm posting it mainly for teh lulz and also to see if anyone remembers it, since it used to get comments back in the day.  
> Anyways it's a mess but I'm still fond of it, have fun!

"O-okay Kabuto-kun. But it's already so late... Shouldn't we start tomorrow?" I asked. Kabuto looked up at the sky, where the moon was bright against a navy-blue and purple backdrop.   
"I suppose you're right, Kori. Let's just go back to the house then..." He said, kneeling down and gathering the few bottles of medicine that had fallen out of my basket. I knelt down beside him and placed some other bottles in the basket. I was about to pick it up to carry it, but Kabuto beat me to it, carrying it himself.  
"Thank you, Kabuto." I said, at first amazed at him being this nice to me but then remembering his words. He shrugged off the comment and started walking towards the hideout. I fell into step a half a step behind him. Following him diligently back to the hideout, I watched the ground in front of me as we walked. After probably only three minutes of walking, Kabuto stopped and moved the basket to his hip so he could hold my hand. I smiled up at him and he smiled back. We made it back to the hideout, although it seemed to take longer than normal because I wasn't paying attention to where we were going, just watching Kabu out of the corner of my eye and letting my mind replay what had happened over and over.   
"Kori-chan, are you coming inside?" came another voice from the doorway. It was Orochimaru-sama. I looked up and saw nothing but his silhouette in the frame of the door. Which was fine by me, he creeped me out anyways.  
"Y-yes, Orochimaru-sama. I got that medicine you needed, too. All of it." I said, gesturing to the basket still in Kabuto's grip.  
"Ah... good Kori-chan. Come in, dear..." Orochimaru-sama said, moving aside to let us in. I stepped inside, taking care to avoid Orochimaru's eyes, they always scared me. Kabuto was between Orochimaru and I though, so it wasn't all that bad, walking by him.   
"Kabuto-kun. Thank you for bringing Kori-chan back. I've missed her so." Orochimaru said, looking at me and a small smirk appearing on his face. I wanted to yell out, 'liar, you don't care for me, you just want me as a lab rat!', but I didn't. I needed this job, it was all I had. Kabuto inconspicuously stepped in front of me, as if shielding me from Orochimaru-sama.  
"Of course, Orochimaru-sama." Kabuto nodded and set the basket down on a table. "Kori needs to stay here for the night." He said and pushed his glasses up. Orochimaru nodded slowly, thinking it was because of his plan, no doubt. I suppressed a smirk. 'If only you knew, Orochimaru-sama... if only you knew....'  
Kabuto took my hand again and led me down the hallway to where his room was. I'd been in there before, of course. But it was only when Kabuto was sick and I had to take care of him. That was a long time ago. He had to of changed it by now. But of course, it's Kabuto we're talking about here; he has no time for things like that. We reached the door and Kabuto pushed it open and let me in first. I had been right, it was exactly the same. Plain, gray... slightly dull. And yet I still loved it. Kabuto's room was like him. Quiet and yet held many secrets.  
"Kori, you can sleep in my bed, I'll sleep on the floor." Kabuto said, letting go of my hand and going to his desk, which was littered with scrolls and pens, crusted with dry ink. It was such a mess.   
"The floor's so hard, Kabuto. Are you sure?" I asked, sitting on his bed and pulling my knees up to my chest. He nodded with his back to me and began writing furiously on a scroll.  
"Yes, Kori-chan, I'll be fine. I've suffered worse." He said and I could hear the smirk in his voice. I rolled my eyes with a small smile and rested my head on my knee, looking around his room. 'I'm in Kabuto's room and just sitting here... This doesn't seem right, considering the last time I was in this room, he was deathly ill...' I winced mentally at the memory and grimaced. There were a few memories that came from that time that I just didn't want to relive. But others-I blushed a bit and smiled- I could relive over and over. Like when Kabuto was asleep and I sat by his side, constantly keeping watch, changing the compress on his forehead to a cooler one every so often. He woke up for a moment, looked at me and smiled, like he was saying, "Thank you, Kori-chan... I don't know what I'd do without you." Then he fell back asleep with that smile still on his face. That memory always made me smile, no matter how dreary my mood was. And the other one from that time, my favorite one. I was cleaning up Kabuto's nightstand; it was littered with medicine bottles and tissues and such. I turned to go dump it, and Kabuto reached out and grabbed my wrist.   
"Kori... please don't leave me..." He said, with his weak voice and eyes closed. I smiled and set the trash can down, kneeled down by his bed and put my hand on his cheek.   
"Don't worry Kabuto. I'll be right back I swear. I just have to take out the trash then I'll be back." I said and he opened his eyes slightly.  
"Hurry, Kori... please." He said and fell back asleep. My smile grew wider and I pushed his hair back out of his face.   
"I will, Kabuto." I said and then left. He was still asleep when I got back, so I kneeled down next to him again and rested my arms on the edge of the bed, then my head on my arms, watching him sleep. I fell asleep myself and woke to Kabuto stroking my hair.  
"Kori-chan... don't tell me you're getting sick too..." He said, and I sat up.  
"No, Kabuto. Just a little tired, that's all." I said and smiled to reassure him. I guess I had, because he fell back asleep. And that's where that memory stopped, Kabuto asleep, looking so innocent and vulnerable.   
I was jerked out of my musings by a hand on my shoulder. I jerked back into a normal sitting position and looked up to see it was only Kabuto. He chuckled a little at my reaction and patted my shoulder.  
"Don't freak out so much Kori-chan it's just me." He said and sat down beside me. I felt a blush rising and I pulled my knees back up to my chest again, hiding my face just enough.  
"So did you have any idea of what you wanted to do tonight, Kori-chan?" Kabuto asked, putting his arm around me and putting his lips close to my ear again. My blush heated up and I clenched my fist.  
"N-no... Kabuto-kun, I didn't." I said. I was lying. I had tons of fantasies, daydreams that had kept me entertained for hours on end. But I couldn't say any of them...  
"Ah... Okay." He said and I watched him close his eyes and lay his head on my shoulder out of the corner of my eye. I smiled, he looked so innocent again. I laid the side of my head on top of his and shut my eyes too. I felt Kabuto's arm twitch and I knew he wasn't really comfortable; he just didn't want to make me move.  
"Kabu-kun, you can move, its okay." I said with my eyes still closed and giggled a bit. He chuckled and moved so my head was on his shoulder, the exact opposite of our former position.  
Kabuto's arm felt warm and safe around me, and for the first time in a long time I felt protected and wanted. I let out a sigh and felt Kabuto turn his head to look at me.  
"You okay, Kori-chan?" He asked, a new tone of concern in his voice. I smiled, opening my eyes and nodded.   
"Ya, I'm fine. Just happy still." He smiled to that and wrapped both his arms around me, swaying back and forth a little, like he was trying to lull me to sleep. I laughed again and he stopped.  
"What?"  
"Are you trying to put me to sleep, Kabuto-kun?" I asked.  
"Maybe." He said with a small smirk. He pulled me close again and resumed swaying. It was comforting. I was falling asleep. Like I had mentioned, I hadn't felt this safe in a really, really long time.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was written in 2008/2009, it's all over the place and the plot was just starting to be figured out when I gave up on it. I'm posting it mainly for teh lulz and also to see if anyone remembers it, since it used to get comments back in the day.  
> Anyways it's a mess but I'm still fond of it, have fun!

The next morning I awoke in Kabuto's bed, the blankets pulled up around me and some sort of wieght on the edge of the bed. I opened one eye and saw that Kabuto was in the same postion I had been in so many months ago, leaning on the edge of his bed with his face turned towards me. His mouth was open just slightly and his glasses were askew on his face. I smiled and opened both my eyes, reaching out to push a lock of hair out of his closed eyes. Kabuto's slow, even breaths caught and his eyes opened slowly, then a smile spread on his face.  
"Morning, Kori-chan." He said sleepily, lifting his head a bit to fix his glasses.  
"Good morning." I smiled and sat up, pushing my own hair back behind my ears. Kabuto leaned one elbow on the edge of the bed and rested his head in his hand.  
"Did you sleep well?" He asked, struggling to hold back a yawn.  
"Yes I did. Were you right there the whole night?" I asked. He nodded and smiled.  
"Yes, I was. You're so cute when you're asleep. Purly innocent." Kabuto said, standing up and leaning over to kiss my forehead, putting his hand on my cheek. I smiled at the light touch and put my hand over his.   
"Just like you, Kabuto." I said and grinned. He laughed a bit and stood up straight.  
"Yes dear. I need to go see what Orochimaru-sama needs out of me today, alright? You can really just do whatever." Kabuto said as I got out of his bed and stood up.  
"Alright. You know where to find me if I'm needed agian." I said and nodded to him. He smiled and brushed his hand along my cheekbone again before turning to go out the door. I smiled at his retreating back and raised a hand to my cheek, a blush rising.   
"Heh... This is all too good to be true..." I thought, walking over to Kabuto's desk and shuffling papers around. They seemed to just be reports of missons he did for Orochimaru-sama. "Hmm... too dedicated..." I said, sighing and shaking my head. I turned to leave, and was startled by Orochimaru himself standing in the doorway.  
"Kori-chan... going through top-secret mission reports, are we...?" He asked, stepping closer to me with his arms crossed and a murderous look on his face. I took a few steps back and bumped into Kabuto's chair.  
"N-no, Orochimaru-sama, just moving papers around..." I swallowed forcefully, my eyes growing wide as Orochimaru stepped closer, his scowl cutting deep wrinkles across his forehead. He narrowed his eyes at me, as if trying to see if I was lying. I gulped again and fumbled around for the back of the chair for support. He stared at me a for a few minutes then spoke agian.  
"I catch you going through papers again, Kori, I'll personally have you dissapear." He said, then turned and left after giving me another murderous glare. As he left my view, I let out a sigh of relief and leaned on the chair, putting most of my wieght on it.  
"Holy hell he's scary..." I said and put a hand to my forehead. Just as I was standing back up, Kabuto came in with a confused look on his face.   
"I just passed Orochimaru-sama in the hall... he seemed angry... and he was walking out of here, too..." He stopped talking once he looked over at me and saw what must have been a terrified look on my face. Kabuto rushed to me and sat me in his chair. "What happened, Kori-chan? Did Orochimaru-sama do something to you?" He asked, his eyes widening as he pushed a strand of hair out of my face.  
"N-no...nothing happened, really. Y-you know how much he scares me, Kabuto-kun..." I said and looked into his eyes. Kabuto sighed and nodded then wrapped his arms around me.  
"I know Kori, I know. But that's no reason to hyperventilate everytime you're around him..." I heard Kabuto say, his voice muffled by my hair. I nodded and wrapped my arms around his neck.  
"Alright..." I said and rested my head on Kabuto's shoulder. He put a hand on the back of my head and stroked my hair gently. I sighed and felt Kabuto's arms hold me a bit tighter. Then he moved back and tipped my head up with a single finger, leaning closer to kiss me again. His lips rested on mine and my eyes closed. Kabuto kissed me like he had the night before when we were outside, pouring his feelings into it. I opened one eye and peered over Kabuto's shoulder to the doorway, just to find that Orochimaru was standing there, trying to hide behind the doorframe but not doing a good job of it. I quickly shut my eye again and leaned closer to Kabuto. There was no way I was letting my fear of Kabuto's lord get in the way of this. Ever.  
Kabuto leaned back and I ended up kneeling on the floor, leaning on his chest with my arms around his torso. Kabuto held me close and kissed the top of my head, obviously oblivious to Orochimaru standing behind him. I had to resist the urge to look over Kabuto's shoulder agian and glare. It would only get me either thrown out or killed, and I was betting on killed. After a few minutes though, I did peek to see that he had left and felt my fear evaporate quickly. Kabuto leaned back with another heavy sigh and looked down at me.  
"Kori-chan, I have to get back to work now, then. Why don't you go out to the grounds and train a bit?" He said, getting up and offering me his hand. I took it and he pulled me up off the floor.  
"Okay, Kabuto-kun. I'll go find Acura-sensei and Houtaru. They're probably there already anyways." I said and hugged Kabuto one last time before turning to head out his door. But he caught my wrist and pulled me back into an embrace, squeezing me tight and kissing me on the cheek.  
"Be careful Kori-chan." Kabuto whispered into my ear and I nodded.  
"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." I whispered back and Kabuto nodded before releasing me and pushing up his glasses. I gave him a smile and left, walking swiftly past the stairs that went down to Orochimaru-sama's lab and out the door.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was written in 2008/2009, it's all over the place and the plot was just starting to be figured out when I gave up on it. I'm posting it mainly for teh lulz and also to see if anyone remembers it, since it used to get comments back in the day.  
> Anyways it's a mess but I'm still fond of it, have fun!

Heading in the direction of the training grounds, I pulled my forehead protector out of the pouch on my belt and fastened it securely around my arm. The sound symbol had a few scratches across it, but not deep enough to classify me as turning agianst my village. If that day ever came, I'd probably cut into the metal with tears in my eyes, for I'd be leaving Kabuto behind that way.  
"Kori-chan! Hey! Where'd you dissapear to last night with Kabuto-san?" Hotaru's voice carried easily over the training grounds, her hands cupped around her mouth to amplify her voice. I waved at her and quickened my pace, trying hard to avoid the question.  
"So, I saw Kabuto push you up agianst that wall last night, what happened after that? He looked like he was going to kiss you. I mean really kiss you." She said, standing in front of me so I couldn't go any further until I answered the question. I sighed and looked up at the sky, praying for some way out of this explaination.  
"Nothing happened, Hotaru, really." I said and crossed my arms, fighting back the blush that was threating to come. Hotaru mimicked me, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow.  
"You mean to say that the guy you've drooled over for as long as I've known you gets that close to you and you don't even try to kiss him? Kori-chan, really, I mean I know you're shy and all but when you get a chance like that you take it." She said, shaking her head as Acura-sensei came and stood behind Hotaru, putting his hand on her shoulder.  
"Oh my, did Kori-chan finnally get the kiss she's been daydreaming of for years on end last night?" Acura-sensei said, a wide grin spreading across his face and a deep blush spreading across mine.  
"No she was too much of a chicken to take it." Hotaru said, which made my blush go deeper. I rubbed the back of my head, embarrassed.  
"I-i'm not a chicken... I just don't want him to think badly of me... you know that, Hotaru-chan." I said and Hotaru rolled her eyes at me.  
"Sure, sure, whatever Kori-chan. Let's just get to training already." She waved off the comment as if shooing a bug and turned to go back to her cat that was waiting on top of a pole in the training grounds. "Come on Mitsuki, time for your training too." Hotaru's voice changed to a cutesy one and she reached up to the black cat who mewed and jumped into her arms. Acura-sensei and I walked over and he turned to us, Hotaru stroking her cat and cooing to it.   
"Alright my lovely starlett death machines," he started, with eye rolls and sighs from both Hotaru and I. "Today we will work on your aim so that you may pierce the hearts of men and women around the world and they may learn my teachings through your example, my dear Kori-chan your aim needs work. Though your skill is grand, you must learn to strike as you move for Hotaru-chan may not always be there to watch your back." His gaze rested on me and I shrugged.  
"I'm a medical ninja, really sensei you shouldn't expect that much out of me." I said, trying to defend myself a bit.  
"It doesn't hurt to know where to throw a kunai, Kori-chan. Just imagine, you're leaping through the trees, like a thin kangaroo on the savannah, when all of a sudden, a dark evil ninja comes at you out of nowhere, startling you into a frenzied panic, and all you have to defend yourself with is a lonely kunai, like a single lily in a pond, and nothing more." He began, pointing to the pouch strapped to my leg. "And you're alone in the forest, Hotaru-chan's not there with you. You throw your only weapon, the lonley kunai, but ah! With your aim being like a blind man trying to swat a fly, it misses your target and you fall to the ground, taken down by the dark ninja that you failed to hit." He finished, and I rolled my eyes agian.  
"Thank you for that self-esteem booster, Acura-sensei..." I said, sighing heavily and rolling my eyes agian. Acura-sensei nodded and patted my shoulder, then turned to walk over to the targets, practically skipping, which is typical of him. I struggled to hold back a smile but couldn't, Acura-sensei is to cute sometimes. Following him, I pulled out a couple kunai and twirled one around my finger, waiting for Hotaru-chan to take her turn. The day continued pretty much just like this, Hotaru and I taking turns throwing kunai and shuriken at the targets and getting praised by Acura when we did well. I must admit, my aim did improve alot just from that short bout of practice.  
"Kori-chan you're doing much better!" Acura-sensei said as Hotaru-chan and I sat, leaning agianst one of the trees. He clapped a hand on my shoulder and smiled. "You and your lonely lily kunai will have a much better chance agaianst that dark evil ninja now that you have practiced my teachings."  
"Thanks, Acura-sensei it did help alot." I said, smiling back at him.   
"No problem, my dear Kori-chan! Now I do belive it is time for us all to head back to our cozy homes, as it is getting dark, nighttime is upon us. Back home we have warm meals waiting for us, along with people that care about us and will welcome us home with open arms and big smiles!" Acura-sensei said, clapping his hands together once and grinning. Hotaru-chan and I giggled at him and nodded.  
"You're right Acura-sensei. I'll see you tomorrow!" Hotaru said, getting up with Mitsuki in her arms and brushing some dirt off her pants. I pushed myself up off the ground and did the same.  
"I'll be back if I can, Kabuto-kun and Orochimaru-sama might need me." I said, clasping my hands together and bowing slightly to Acura. He smirked. I frowned at him and shook my head. "Not that way Acura-sensei... you know I'm basically their housekeeper..." I rolled my eyes. "Now I'll see you guys later, I've probably been gone long enough." Hotaru nodded and cuddled Mitsuki closer.  
"See you later then Kori-chan!" She said and smiled. I smiled back and started off, turning once to wave. Acura waved excitedly back before turning himself and heading the oppisite way with Hotaru.   
I walked out of the training grounds and onto the main road, stopping when I spotted a shadow twicth out of the corner of my eye. Whipping out a kunai and turning swiftly towards it, I called out, "Who's there?" and heard a laugh in reply.  
"Wow, Kori-chan you are becoming quite the ninja." A familiar voice said, and Kabuto stepped out of the shadows, smirking and pushing up his glasses. I relaxed when I saw it was only him, and he came over and put his arm around my shoulders. "I came to walk you home." Kabuto said, giving me a one-armed hug, pulling me close. I put my arm around his waist and smiled.  
"Thanks, Kabuto." I said, which made him smile. We started off together and he moved his arm to hold my hand.


	5. Chapter 5

We were about halfway back to the hideout when Kabuto pulled me onto a side street which went into an alley. He stopped at the dead end and wrapped his arms around me tightly, tipping my head up to kiss me. He started out soft, like he wasn't sure if he should kiss me agian, but got over it when I wrapped my arms around him. His kiss became hungrier, like he wanted something that he couldn't have really badly. It scared me a bit, I won't lie. But the kiss ended as quickly as it had came and Kabuto looked at me, a hardly readable apologetic look on his face. I placed a hand on his cheek, which seemed to reasurre him a bit, as he gave me a small, sad smile. I grabbed his hand agian and we finished our walk back to the hideout. As like last night, Orochimaru was waiting in the doorway for us, this time with a single green snake wound about his shoulders. I avoided looking his way as we passed him, and went back into Kabuto's room.  
"Kori-chan you really don't have anywhere else to go, do you?" Kabuto asked, as we lay on his bed, my head on his shoulder and his arm around my shoulders. I shook my head sadly.  
"No, I mean I have a room above the restraunt, but I really don't have a home to go back too at the end of every day." I said, thinking of what Acura had said eariler.  
"You can come live with us, you know. You're here all the time anyways." Kabuto said. "I'm sure I can get Orochimaru-sama to let you stay." I slid my arm under Kabuto's back and wrapped the other around the top of him, pulling him closer to me.   
"Thank you Kabuto." I said and closed my eyes. 'He can ask but I'm sure it won't happen. Orochimaru doesn't want too many extra people around... too easy for a secret to leak out...'  
"Of course, Kori. I'd... I'd do anything I could to help you..." He said, and I felt his kiss on top of my head. A smile spread on my face, and I sqeezed Kabuto a bit tighter. He wrapped his arms around me and did the same. I opened my eyes and looked up at him, he looked exhausted.   
"Go to sleep, Kabuto. I'll be right here." I said and smiled, kissing him on the cheek. He smiled back and nodded slowly, reaching up to take off his glasses. He set them on his nightstand and then scooted down so he could hold me closer. I cuddled up happily next to him and within minutes we were both asleep.  
.............................................................................................................................  
Now that Kori was asleep, I could continue with the plan. As much as I did not like it, there was no way I would go against Orochimaru-sama's orders. Carefully sliding out of Kori's embrace and putting my glasses back on, I snuck out the door and down the hall to Orochimaru-sama's lab. In the cupboard was the syringe I was looking for. The purple liquid inside of it moved as I walked quietly back into my room. I stood in the doorway a minute, watching my newly-declared love sleep. I looked down at the needle in my hand and sighed. I didn't want to do this, if I could I wouldn't... but Orochimaru-sama had ordered me too. Kori-chan was just another one of his experiments... That very thought made me sick.  
Shaking my head to clear it, I postitoned the syringe in my hand and walked to the bed, gently placing my hand on Kori's leg. She stirred ever so slightly, and I held my breath until she was still. I looked at my hand, and her leg under it. I would give anything to not have to do this, I really would. But I did it anyways. I stuck the needle into Kori's skin and injected her with Orochimaru's potion. Pulling the needle out, I shoved it deep under the bed, praying silently that she would reject the potion and nothing would happen. I took a deep breath and slid silently back into my former position, taking off my glasses agian and wrapping my arms around Kori. Kissing her forehead gently, I whispered an apology.  
"Kori-chan... forgive me... please..."  
.............................................................................................................................  
I woke agian the next morning still in Kabuto's arms. His grip was looser but his arms were still wrapped around me and mine were around him. His head rested on the top of mine as mine was on his shoulder. The simple shifting of my head to see his face woke Kabuto up. He rubbed his eyes and smiled sleepily down at me. I smiled back before pulling my arm out from under him and propping myself up on my elbows.  
"You know I'm going to end up staying here every night. The landlady is going to wonder where I've been." I said, smiling at him. He smiled and yawned.  
"I told you to just move in, Kori." Kabuto said, sitting up himself and leaning close to me for a kiss. I met him about ten percent of the way and put a hand on his shoulder. After probably just a minute, we pulled back and I laughed.  
"You keep kissing me, I might just have to take you up on that offer." I saidwith a giggle. Kabuto smiled and rested a hand on my cheek.  
"I'd like it if you did, Kori-chan." He said and kissed me agian softly. He went to get up and I grabbed his arm.  
"Back to work so early?" I asked, "Orochimaru-sama might not even be up yet."  
"That's why I'm going to work, dear. I have to go wake him up." Kabuto said with a small smile and gently pryed his arm out of my grip. I let him go, understanding his loyalty to Orochimaru. I nodded and layed back down.  
"Alright Kabuto, I'm feeling a bit more tired than usual... probably from training yesterday. I think I'll go back to sleep." I looked up at him and saw the flash of a panicked look on his face. It went away swiftly though, and was replaced by his normal neutral look.  
"Okay Kori-chan. Sleep well." He said, and I heard his voice quiver oh so slightly. Kabuto leaned down and kissed my forehead lightly, lingering a moment before standing back up and leaving. His sudden nervousness frightened me. Why would he be scared that I was going to sleep? Everyone slept, it was no big deal. I decided to leave it alone for now and get some extra sleep in. I rolled over onto my side and tucked my hands up under the pillow and the side of my head, shutting my eyes. Getting to sleep was difficult. The knowladge that something was up, and worrying Kabuto, was lingering in the back of my mind. Once I finnally did get back to sleep, it was restless. I was tossing and turning until I just finnally ended up giving up on the whole sleeping bit and propped myself up on my elbows agian. Looking around Kabuto's room, my eyes landed on his desk. Still cluttered with the same scrolls and crusted-over brushes as it always has been. Orochimaru's warning flashed in my mind and I shuddered.  
'That man...' I thought to myself, getting up and straightening out my skirt. My utility pouch was hung on the back of Kabuto's chair, along with my forehead protector and his, the only difference being his strap was darker than mine. I grabbed my sandals from where they were thrown at the side of the door and put them on, buckling my belt and pouch around my hips as I walked down the hall. Voices were coming from the stairs leading down to Orochimaru's lab. I paused at the doorframe to listen. I could hear Kabuto and Orochimaru talking, although I wasn't able to understand what they were saying. Kabuto's voice was strained, as if he was pleading with Orochimaru. But Orochimaru wasn't giving up on whatever it was. I heard Kabuto sigh and say, "Yes, Orochimaru-sama." His footsteps started up the stairs and I was brought back to reality. I continued my walk, pulling on a pair of gloves as I did, as if I hadn't heard anything.  
"Kori-chan?" Kabuto said, from behind me. "I thought you were asleep." I looked at him over my shoulder with my eyebrows raised, feigning surprise.  
"Oh. I couldn't fall asleep so I decided to get up and maybe go train a bit more." I poked my arm muscle. "Been feeling a bit weak lately." I finished, smirking at him. The corner of Kabuto's mouth twitched.   
"Alright Kori-chan. You go enjoy yourself. Don't wear yourself out, please. I'd like to take you somewhere tonight." Kabuto said, stepping towards me and wrapping his arms around my shoulders. I wrapped mine around his torso and squeezed him tight.  
"That sounds great, Kabuto. I'll make sure to behave myself today." I said with a giggle. Kabuto smiled back, but there was something different about his eyes. He looked as if he was about to cry. I tried to act like nothing's wrong, and gave him a smile. His grew a bit wider and he leaned down to plant a light kiss on my lips.  
"See you tonight, my Kori-chan." He whispered, his lips still lingering close to mine.  
"See you tonight, Kabuto-kun." I said back and turned to leave, glancing over my shoulder once to smile at him. I got a small, sad one in return. I turned back and let my own face fall. Something was definitly going on. Something extremely bad.


	6. Chapter 6

"Gah! Dammit!" I gasped as I clutched the new cut on my arm made by Hotaru's kunai. "We're not going for the kill, Hotaru!" I called to her as she spun around, black braids whipping against her body.  
"I know, I know. Not my fault you're slow to dodge." She said and stuck her tounge out me. I rolled my eyes and pulled my hand away from my arm. It was nearly covered in blood, but it was just a thin layer so it was alright. Focusing chakra into the same hand, I slapped it over the cut agian and squeezed my eyes shut to both concentrate and ignore the pain. A few seconds later, I pulled my hand away and examined my arm. Only a faint pink line remained. 'Heh. I am getting better at this.' I thought then foucused back on Hotaru, who was resting on a nearby branch with Mitsuki on her head. I slid into the shadows behind her tree and silently climbed another. She hadn't noticed me yet but Mitsuki had. The brown and white spotted cat tapped her paw on Hotaru's head and mewed, flicking her tail in my direction. Hotaru glanced my way and I lunged before she could lift her kunai. Tackling her so she fell off the branch and onto the soft grass below, I smirked and pressed my kunai gently onto her throat.  
"You're dead, Hotaru." I said and grinned.  
"Ya, ya, now get off me." Hotaru said, pushing my hand away. I jumped up and stuck my kunai back in the pouch on my leg, then tightened my brown ponytail.  
"First time I've got you in a long time, Hotaru-chan. What's up?" I asked as she brushed herself off.   
"Your fighting spirit, that's what's up." She said, smiling at me. "The only time it's been like this was when you first got here, when Kabuto-san was making you do all that training."  
I thought on that for a moment. "Hey, Hotaru-chan, you're right." I said and smiled wider.  
"Ya, wonder what's gotten into you this time." Hotaru grinned mischiviously and punched my arm playfully. I shrugged but kept up the smile, staying slient even though I knew excatly what had gotten to me. Kabuto's love. But of course if I told Hotaru that, she'd never let it die, she'd tease me relentlessly, always asking when we were getting married.  
"So when's the wedding?" Hotaru asked and I started at her, dumbfounded, for a moment.  
"Who's wedding?" I asked, coming back to reality.  
"Your's and Kabuto-san's of course. I mean you guys are in love and all that, aren't you?" She asked, leaning agianst the tree I had just pushed her out of.  
"What? Hotaru-chan what are you talking about?" I asked, furrowing my brow.  
"Well judging from the way Kabuto's looking at you right now, I'd say he's pretty much gone head over heels for you." She said, grinning and pointing over my shoulder, up into the trees. I turned and looked up. Sure enough, Kabuto was perched on a branch, his chin in his hand and the most wonderful smile I had ever seen on his face.  
"Hi, Kori-chan." Kabuto said and waved. I felt my face heat up as I blushed and waved back.  
"Hiya, Kabuto-san! How ya been?" Hotaru asked, stepping up beside me and clapping a hand on my shoulder.  
"Hello, Hotaru-chan. I've been well. And yourself?" He asked, hopping lightly off the branch and landing in front of us. He smiled at me and gently touched my new scar before turning back to Hotaru.  
"Just dandy until your little pet here caught me off guard and knocked me out of a very comfortable tree." Hotaru shot a mock scowl at me then smirked and winked.  
Kabuto laughed. "I saw that, actually. Kori-chan is really progressing." He stepped closer to me and put a hand on the side of my face, looking into my eyes with an almost fatherly sense of pride.  
"Ewwww if there's going to be mushy stuff here then I'm leaving!" Hotaru said, covering her eyes and turning away. Kabuto and I both laughed and I wrapped my arms around his waist.   
"Better leave quick then, Hotaru-chan!" I said and winked at her as she peeked at us from between her fingers. The grossed-out look on her face was priceless.   
"Oh yes now I AM getting out of here!" Hotaru said as Kabuto pulled me closer, tipping my head up towards his. Hotaru scooped up Mitsuki and ran into the trees, saying she's see me later when I wasn't in Kabuto's arms. I burst out laughing when she was gone, and Kabuto chuckled.  
"Oh man Hotaru-chan is funny." I said, catching my breath. Kabuto nodded.  
"Oh very entertaining. I can see why you like her." He said, releasing his arms from around my shoulders and taking my hand.  
"Yup she's always like that, she's a good one to have around on a boring day." I said, smiling and swinging Kabuto and I's hands a bit.  
"I can imagine she is." Kabuto said. I smiled and nodded, squeezing his hand. Kabuto squeezed mine back and tugged me closer. I pulled his arm around my shoulders and wrapped an arm around his waist. He smiled and tightend his arm around my shoulders, pulling me as close as possible while still being able to walk. 

"Kori-chan you can open your eyes now." Kabuto's voice came from behind me and he let go of my hand.  
"Oh we're finnally here?" I asked and giggled. I opened my eyes and found myself staring at a door. I turned to Kabuto with a raised eyebrow. "A door?"  
He shook his head and laughed. "Open it, Kori."  
"Right." I turned the knob and pushed open the door. It opened to Kabuto's room, but it was different. I turned to Kabuto agian with a grin. "No freaking way." All my stuff from my room above the restraunt had been moved in, and the room was split. A half for me and half for Kabuto.  
"Go look, Kori-chan." He said and prodded me in the back with a finger. I nearly ran into the room and flopped down on my bed.  
"Kabuto-kun this is wonderful! Did you do all this while I was out training?" I asked, propping myself up on my elbows as he came in and shut his door.  
"Mmhmm. Glad you like it, Kori-chan." He smiled and I jumped up and into his arms, planting a kiss right on his lips. Kabuto wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me close and returning my kiss.  
"I love it, Kabuto. Honestly I do." I whispered in his ear, squeezing him tight.  
"I'm glad." He whispered back and kissed my cheek. Then he loosened his grip and looked into my eyes for a moment before pushing up his glasses and smiling. "Alright. Clean yourself up, I'm taking you to dinner. I brought all your clothes too, so dress up a little." Kabuto smirked and I laughed.  
"Alright. Shoo, then. Let me change." I said and shoved him gently out the door. He laughed agian and told me I had ten minutes.

..........

While Kori got ready, I went to see if Orochimaru-sama need anything out of me tonight. Unfortunetly, he did. Luckily, it wouldn't interfere with Kori-chan and I's date.  
"Kabuto-kun you have injected Kori with the potion, correct?" Orochimaru asked. I nodded.  
"Yes, Orochimaru-sama. No effects yet, besides a small bout of restlessness the morning after." I reported. 'And the ultimate stress you put me under, knowing what you're planning.' I added in my thoughts, pushing up my glasses to hide the look on my face. Orochimaru caught it anyway.  
"You know if this works it will benifit you too." He said, crossing his arms. I sighed and nodded.  
"I know, Orochimaru-sama. I have to go now. I'll report any changes in her condition when I get back." I said, bowing slightly and backing towards the stairs. Orochimaru nodded and turned back to his work, whatever it was that he was doing. I nearly ran back up the stairs, I had never in the whole time I'd been here wanted to get away so badly.


	7. Chapter 7

Kabuto knocked on the door right as I was turning the knob. I opened it fully and smiled at a very nicely dressed Kabuto.  
"Good timing." He said and smirked, looking over my outfit. I blushed a little when his eyes lingered at the neckline of my top. His eyes flashed back to mine and he smiled again. "Lovely outfit, Kori-chan." I blushed again and pulled at the purple halter top and black shirt I had on.  
"Thanks, Kabuto. Same for you." I said and admired the light blue button-up shirt he was wearing, it complimented his silver hair and dark eyes perfectly. I smirked a little and a light blush spread on his face, and he wiped his hands on the sides of his tan pants. Oh. Kabuto was nervous. That small amount of smugness rose again before he spoke.  
"Thank you Kori-chan. Shall we go?" Kabuto asked, holding out a hand. I nodded and took it, smiling as he pulled me close.  
"Where are we going?" I asked and he put a finger to his lips, signaling that he wasn't going to tell. I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Oh alright. Two surprises in one day." I said as we walked out the door and down the road. I didn't turn to check, but I could have sworn I felt someone watching me, and it wasn't Orochimaru.

.....

"Dammit, Sasuke, leave!" I thought, throwing an angry glance over my shoulder to the black-haired boy peeking through the curtains, staring at my Kori. He caught my eye and quickly ducked out of view. Obviously HE was happy with Orochimaru's plan. I just prayed that it wouldn't ever really happen. The only reason I had gone through with my part of the plan was the possiblity that I could have a full life with Kori.

.....

I watched Kabuto shoot a glare over his shoulder. 'Odd...' I thought but left it alone. Kabuto pulled me closer and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. 'He's quite protective tonight...' I thought, leaning my head on his shoulder. 'I... kinda like it...' I smiled and closed my eyes for a moment. Kabuto's breath tickled my ear as he whispered.  
"We have a guest at the hideout. I want you to treat him like you treat Orochimaru-sama. Avoid him but don't make it obvious that you are. Only speak to him when he asks you something, and even then answer it in an obscure way." He said and we rounded a corner. He glanced over his shoulder once more then turned back to me. "Don't tell him anything about your past or the time you've been here."  
"I can do that, Kabuto. Who is he?" I asked, nodding.  
"A very important person to Orochimaru-sama." Kabuto said and stopped. We were in the same alleyway as we had been last night. Kabuto turned and grabbed my shoulders, turning me to face him. I looked up at him with an inquisitive expression.  
"What's wrong, Kabuto?" I asked, reaching up to touch his face. He caught my hand and pressed it to his cheek, closing his eyes and sighing.  
"Nothing, Kori. I just..." He sighed again and opened his eyes, looking into mine. "I love you, Kori. Honestly I do." He looked as if he were about to burst into tears.  
"K-kabuto... I love you too, you know I do." I said and pulled him into a tight hug. He returned it and laid his head on my shoulder. I stroked the back of his head and he sighed again. He stayed there for a full two minutes before pulling back and taking my hand again.  
"Come on, Kori-chan. Before it gets too late." Kabuto said. I nodded and we started off again.  
We walked down the road a ways then Kabuto stopped again and covered my eyes with his hands.  
"Haha Kabuto-kun what's going on?" I laughed, pulling at his hands to try and see. He just clamped them down harder and chuckled.  
"Just trust me, Kori-chan. I have another surprise for you." I heard him say from behind me as he gently pushed me forward.  
"Alright, alright." I giggled and let him lead me.  
"Okay Kori open your eyes. We're here." Kabuto said and pulled his hands from my eyes. I quickly opened them and found myself standing in front of a blanket with a picnic spread out on it. My hand flew to my mouth as my eyes widened and I turned to Kabuto.   
"Oh my god Kabuto this is wonderful. Absolutely wonderful." I said as I lifted a trembling-with-excitement hand to his cheek. Kabuto grinned and grabbed my hand, kissing it.  
"I thought you'd like it. Now come on, let's eat." He said and we sat down on the blanket. We actually ended up just sitting there together more than eating. At one point, Kabuto wrapped his arm around me again and reached into his pocket.  
"Kori-chan I have a present for you." He said.  
"Oh another one?" I asked and sat up a bit. I had been leaning against him, with my head on his shoulder.  
"Yes. You'll like this one." Kabuto said and pulled his hand out of his pocket. In it was something that looked like a collar for a pet, but it was larger. I reached for it and Kabuto leaned back and buckled it around my neck. I touched the pendant dangling from it and looked down. Engraved on the silver disc was the symbol of The Village of Sound.   
"Oh my gosh Kabuto this is great!" I said and grinned up at him.  
"Knew you'd love it. Will you stay with me, Kori? Always be mine?" He asked, taking both my hands in his. My eyes widened again and my breath caught as I stared up at him.  
"K-kabuto... are... are you proposing to me?" I stammered and I heard his breath catch.  
"I-I don't know... Maybe... I think so." He said and looked down for a moment before staring back into my eyes. I gasped and felt my eyes fill up with tears. Kabuto's face turned worried and he kissed my tears away. "No, Kori, please don't cry. What did I do wrong?"  
I smiled and shook my head. "Nothing, nothing at all. I just..." Before I could finish I was knocked over and something sharp and icy cold was pressed against my throat. I resisted the urge to scream and instead shoved my elbow into the ribs of my attacker. There was a grunt and thier hold on me tightened.  
"Let go of her!" I heard Kabuto scream and then a sharp blow on the side of my head knocked me out. As I faded out, the attacker was ripped away from me.  
"Kabuto..." I whispered then faded out completely.


	8. Chapter 8

"You bastard what have you done?" I yelled as I slammed Kori's attacker against a tree. He grunted and grabbed at the hand I had around his throat.  
"M-my job!" The silver-haired boy yelled back and kicked out at my stomach. I barely dodged it and tightened my grip on the boy's throat. He gasped and tightened his grip too, staring at me with burning black eyes. His nails dug into my skin, and I glanced to Kori. She was coming around.  
"K-kabuto..." I heard her whisper and she opened her eyes. They widened as she saw the young boy in my grip. "Kabuto, no! Let him go, he's just a kid! He's younger than me!"  
I raised my eyebrows and my jaw dropped. "Kori he tried to kill you!" I yelled and the boy grunted and struggled more. Kori jumped up and grabbed the hand I had around the boy's throat.   
"It doesn't matter now let him go!" She yelled and I obeyed, dumbstruck. Kori caught the boy as he fell and supported him with an arm around his shoulders.  
"Are you alright?" She asked, gently pushing his bangs back from his face.  
"Yes I am now get off me!" He said and pushed her away. I charged up a chakra scalpel and held it towards him.  
"You do that agian, boy, and this will be at your throat." I threatened, narrowing my eyes. The boy rolled his and crossed his arms.  
"Ooh, scary." He said and flicked his wrist. "I can do that too." A scalpel appeared around his hand and he held it out. "See? You don't scare me, ninja boy." I narrowed my eyes agaian and Kori sighed and stood up.  
"Stop it you two." She said with a tone of voice that reminded me of a... mother. I lowered my hand but didn't deactivate the chakra. The boy lowered his too and glared at Kori.  
"What do you want? Why are you here?" She asked, grabbing the boy's wrist and squeezing a pressure point that deactivated his scalpel. He shook his hand out of her grip and I scoffed. I'd taught her well.  
"I've got no reason to tell you!" He said and glared. Kori rolled her eyes.  
"Obviously you do. You should tell us unlesss you want to be riddled with senbon and your ateries cut with that chakra scalpel over there." She said, nodding towards my hand. Kori was actually threatening someone, this was a first for her.   
The boy's eyes widened a bit and he glanced towards my hand and the to Kori's, which was poised over the pouch at her waist, ready to grab a handful of cold steel at any second.  
"Huh. Well ya that's one reason." He said and scoffed, then put a hand to his chin and thought for a moment. "Alright I'll tell you this much, I'm an assassin hired on to take out Orochimaru and his underlings."  
Kori's eyes widened and I shook my head. Wonderful. Another one. Kori sighed and grabbed the boy's arm.  
"Come on you're coming with me." She said and dragged him towards me. The boy struggled and pulled back, but he couldn't release Kori's grip on him.  
"What? What do you think you're doing?!? Where are you taking me?!?" He yelled and clawed at Kori's hand. She didn't even flinch. Instead, she stopped and took the boy by both shoulders and shook him once roughly.  
"Knock that off! We're just going back to the house, I'm not planning on hurting you. And I'll make sure he doesn't either." She spoke sharply, and pointed towards me.  
"A-alright..." The boy gulped and nodded. I was utterly amazed. Kori-chan, my quiet, timid Kori-chan had scared someone. Kori nodded and grabbed his arm agian, pulling him along as she headed towards the hideout.   
"Come on, Kabuto." She said as she passed me, taking my wrist and deactivating my chakra in the same way she had the boy's. I nodded and fell into stop on the boy's other side, watching him out of the corner of my eye the whole way.

...

'This boy is a pain in the ass but I can't let Kabuto kill someone younger than me, assassin or not.' I thought, glancing at them out of the corner of my eye. Kabuto was watching the boy's every move and the boy was staring at the ground.  
"Alright I'm going to need something to call you. What's your name, boy?" I asked, looking at him properly. He glanced up at me then back at the ground.  
"Killua." He muttered.  
"Killua. Hm. Nice. Easy to remember." I nodded and faced the road again.  
"What's your's?" He asked and I looked back at him. Killua had his face turned towards me and looked purely innocent, just like the kid he was.  
"Oh. It's Kori." I said and smiled. He smiled a little back, then turned to Kabuto.  
"And your's?" Killua asked, pulling on Kabuto's sleeve. Kabuto turned, angry at first but then his face softened as he caught the glare I threw at him.  
"I'm Kabuto." He said, pushing his glasses up and nodding once. Killua smirked.  
"Heh. All K's." He said. That realization hit me and I laughed.  
"You're right! How interesting." I said and smiled down at him. Killua smiled back at me and glanced to Kabuto, who looked back and smirked.  
"That is interesting." Kabuto siad and looked up at me. I smiled at him and he gave me a half-smile back. It seemed like he was saying 'Kori-chan, I do not like this kid, but I'll behave to keep you happy.' I looked back down at Killua and he was looking between Kabuto and I with his mout slightly open, as if he were studying us.  
"Wow. You two really are in love.. I.. I can't belive I would try and tear you two apart..." Killua said, looking down and placing a hand on his forehead.  
"Oh... Killua. Huh don't be upset you were only doing your job." I said, looking down at him and gently pushing his hair back agian. Kabuto frowned a little but didn't say anything. Killua looked up at me with what I could have sworn was an apologetic look.  
"A-alright Kori." He said and looked back down. I heard his stomach growl and he put a hand over it.  
"Haha let's get you some food, Killua." I laughed and tugged on his arm, urging him a bit faster. He laughed once and nodded.  
"Yes, please." He said and quickened his pace. Kabuto sped up also and we made it to the hideout. Orochimaru met us at the door, along with a black-haired boy about Killua's age whom I presumed to be the 'guest' Kabuto had told me about.  
"Kabuto-kun... Who's this?" Orochimaru asked, tipping his head to one side and stroking the head of the green snake wrapped around his shoulders.  
"A stray Kori brought home to play with, that's all." Kabuto said, pushing up his glasses and stepping through the door. "Good evening, Sasuke-kun."   
"Kabuto." The black-haired boy nodded once and his eye returned to me. I glanced at him for a second then looked at Killua.  
"Let's get you some food, hun." I said, purposely leaving out his name. Killua nodded, realizing that Sasuke was not to know anything about us. We went into the small kitchen and I sat Killua down at the table before turning to the cupboards and pulling out things to make rice.  
"So... You can drop the fake mom act now. I mean really. I can see through the act you and Kabuto are putting on.You're both medical ninjas, You could be bringing me back here to use my body for reasearch for all I know. You could disect me to gain my family's secrets, is that what you're planning? Or maybe you're just going to fatten me up and feed me to Oro's pet snake, eh? Maybe?" Killua asked, raising an eyebrow at me and crossing his arms. I turned to him with my own raised eyebrow and crossed my arms too.  
"Oh is that what you think? You would really expect someone who's just stopped her fellow ninja from killing you would want to bring you to her home just to kill you herself? Boy, you are paranoid." I said, shaking my head.  
"How would I know your intentions? You shinobi are all the same. Your only focus is to kill your enimes, building up 'pride' for your village. One of the reasons i'm not a ninja. Even though I could pull it off." Killua said as I sat a bowl down in front of him.  
"Well obviously you haven't done your homework on ninjas. There's more to our jobs than just getting your so-called 'pride' for our villages. You'd be amazed at the stuff that goes on here." I said and rolled my eyes, spooning the rice into Killua's bowl.  
"You really shouldn't expose your secrets, Kori. You'd be amazed at the trouble that can cause." He said, sliding the bowl towards him and eating with such speed I thought he was going to choke.


	9. Chapter 9

"Kabuto what are we going to do about that boy? We can't just leave him at the mercy of Orochimaru." I asked, turning onto my side and propping my head up with my hand. It was night now, and Kabuto and I were in our room. He sighed and turned his back to me.  
"Kori-chan can we please just deal with it in the morning...?" Kabuto asked and yawned. "I'm too tired right now..."  
"Oh alright." I sighed and layed back on my back, staring up at the celing. I could hear Killua tossing and turning in the room on the other side of the wall. 'The poor thing. He's got to be scared and I don't blame him. Anyone would be terrified if they ended up here. I know I was.'  
"Kori. Go to sleep." Kabuto's voice jerked me out of my short trip down memory lane.   
"Oh. How'd you know I was still up?" I asked.  
"You're sighing. Go to sleep, dear, before I have to come over there and lay there with you." He said and I could hear the smirk in his voice. The brat. I blushed and turned on my side. 'One of these days he's going to make me blush so hard I'll die of heatstroke.' I thought, closing my eyes.  
"Goodnight, Kori." Kabuto whispered, I fell asleep a few moments later. 

....

"Kori-chan. Time to get up." I heard, and my eyes fluttered. Kabuto's soft touch brushed hair away from my face and I stirred. "Kori-chan... you have to go check on your stray cat." Kabuto said, kissing the side of my forehead.  
"Mmmhmm..." I sighed and turned onto my stomach. Kabuto shook me.  
"Get up woman." He said, shaking me harder until I turned over and looked up at him. "Good morning." He grinned then left. I sat up.  
"Lovely wake up, dear." I said, getting out of bed and going to the room next door. Killua was still asleep, sprawled out on the pallet that had been made up for him. Leaning agianst the doorway, I thought 'Aw. So cute when asleep. Just like an angel nearly.'  
"Killua? You need to get up now." I said, kneeling down beside him and shaking his shoulder slightly. He muttered something incoherent and turned over onto his side. I sighed. "Killua. Honestly." I shook him harder and he sat up, rubbing his eyes.  
"Good god woman I'm up, I'm up." He said, then sighed and looked at me. "What do you want?"  
"You to get up so we can get to work." I replied, standing up.  
"Work?" He asked.  
"Yes. I'll find someway for you to help me. Now get up and get dressed, I'll meet you in the hallway." I went back to mine and Kabuto's room and got dressed. Killua was leaning agianst the wall when I returned, staring up at the celing. "Good you're ready. Now let's go see what you can do, shall we?" I held out a hand to him and he took it hesitantly, following me down the hallway to the lab. It was the only work I could think of today.  
"Kori what the hell is this place?" He asked, looking around the lab. "It looks like a tourture chamber." I laughed.  
"It's the lab, Killua. That's all." I said and went over to the table. There was something under a sheet lieing on it. I bit my lip, knowing what it was. 'Oh dear. Another.' I thought, dropping Killua's hand and lifting a corner of the sheet. Dropping it quickly, I gulped. Just as I thought. Another poor soul taken for Orochimaru's experiments. Shaking my head slightly, I turned back to Killua. "There's some old equipment over there, I want you to clean it all." I said, pointing to the counter beneath a cabinet. "They've been sitting there for like a week, it should take you awhile."  
Killua nodded and went over, grumbling softly. Probably thought I couldn't hear him. I turned back to the body on the table and pulled up the sheet agian. Kabuto's voice came down the stairs. "Same thing as the last one, Kori. You know what to do." He appeared at my side and pulled the sheet the rest of the way off. I grimaced. The smell was awful.  
"Ugh. How long has he been down here?" I asked, resisting the urge to cover my nose.  
"Just a day, really. I think Orochimaru-sama already did something to him." Kabuto said, leaning over the corpse and activating his scalpel. "I actually don't see any abnormalites though... Hm..." Kabuto pushed up his glasses and his scalpel changed to normal healing chakra. He was checking the corpse's vitals for anything strange. "Odd. Really, nothing different." Something clinked behind us and we turned. Killua had dropped a tube and it had broken. He looked up with an apologetic look on his face and smiled nervously.  
"Just clean up the glass hun, it's no big deal." I said. Kabuto nodded then we both turned back to the table. Kabuto's hand hovered over the body as he examined it again with chakra, a confused expression forming on his face.   
"What is it?" I asked, charging up my own chakra and doing the same.   
"There's something there. It seems like a bloodline but I'm not really sure." He said then stepped back. "You examine it and tell me what you find." I nodded and took his place beside the table. Hovering my hand over the corpses's chest, I sensed something. It wasn't quite an abnormality but it was different. I closed my eyes and pushed more chakra into my hand, hieghting the sense.  
"It... It reminds me of a bloodline limit, like you said. But it's different. Some type of different energy... And it's not only in the chest, it's everywhere..." I opened my eyes and looked at Kabuto, confused. "What the hell could it be?" He shrugged.  
"I honestly have no clue. We might have to preform an autopsy." Kabuto said and snickered at my grimace. "Honestly Kori how many times have you done this?"   
"Alot. But I still don't like it." I said, shaking the excess chakra off my hand.  
"Too bad love." Kabuto said and kissed my forehead. "If you want to be a proper med-nin you have to learn to deal with the gruesome part of it." At that moment I became aware of another presence hovering behind my shoulder. I turned and found Killua staring at the dead body.  
"What?" I asked and he jerked out of his thoughts and looked up at me.  
"Why do you have a corpse lying on the table?" He asked.  
"Because we're mad scientists now go back to your cleaning." I said. Killua rolled his eyes and went back to the counter. I turned back to the table where Kabuto had already started working. His chakra scalpel shone brilliantly in the dim light. I was stuck with a normal scalpel, I hadn't quite learned Kabuto's neat little trick yet. Smiling smugly - he knew what I was thinking - Kabuto cut into the corpse and an even viler stench filled the room. I resisted the urge to cover my nose.  
"Ugh. Honestly he had to have been here more than a day. At least three." I said, shuddering.   
"No, really. Just a.. huh." Kabuto tipped his head and pointed at where he'd cut. "Tell me what that is." I looked. There was some sort of substance oozing out of the cut. Black and not quite a liquid; but not compleatly solid either.   
"Like... squished bugs...." I heard Killua say from behind me. I turned. He had a sick look on his face and he was staring at the cut. "That's what it looks like, squished bugs."  
"He's right." Kabuto stepped closer to the table and examined the ooze closely. "That's excatly what it is. Moths if I'm not mistaken." Taking a sample, he put it under his microscope and studied it.   
"What's the conclusion then, doctor?"


	10. Chapter 10

"Uh. Hm. Bug user. For sure." Kabuto said, turning away from the microscope and pushing up his glasses. "Moths of some sort... I'm not really sure this will take a few studies."   
"Right. Yay. We get to play with bugs for a few days." I rolled my eyes and smirked. Kabuto smirked back and scoffed.  
"Yes Kori. Your second favorite thing." He teased. He knew I hated bugs. Nearly as much as snakes.  
"You like bugs, Kori?" Killua asked, making a face. I shook my head.  
"No. Hell no. Bugs are..." I shivered. "Ugh."   
"I know how you feel." Killua said, nodding. He turned and went back to his work, as Kabuto and I prepared samples and cleaned up the body. Kabuto didn't save this corpse as it was filled with others and therefore, pretty much useless. Plus he'd just gotten one a few days before. I held back another shudder. Kabuto's body-gathering bothered me, but it was his practice so I couldn't show it.  
"Kori, Killua. Let's go out somewhere." Kabuto said once we were done in the lab. I put down the towel I'd been drying my hands with and looked to Killua, who was putting test tubes and such away on the shelves. He looked at Kabuto while reaching up to the top shelf, holding a bin of scalpels.   
"Where're we gonna go?" He asked, shoving the bin up on the shelf. I looked at Kabuto with the same question. He shrugged.  
"Let's just go out." Kabuto said and stepped closer to me to wrap an arm around my waist. "Get away from the lab for awhile."  
"That sounds like a good idea." I smiled and turned to Killua, holding out a hand. "Come on Killua this'll be fun." He nodded and took my hand and off we went. We ended up quite far from the compound, on the other side of Sound country actually. The beach. It's not a very big beach, but it's a good one. Killua took off, running in the waves like a true little kid. I laughed and sat down on the sand, watching him. Kabuto sat next to me, smiling and watching the kid play in the surf.  
"This was a good idea, Kabuto." I said, turning and giving him a smile. "I think we all needed to get out of there."  
"We did. And the best part..." He leaned closer to whisper. "Orochimaru-sama has no clue that we're here." Kabuto leaned back and smiled. I had to laugh. He looked so giddy. For once he was actually smiling because he was amused.  
"Hey! Kori! Come play with me!" Killua called from where the tide was swirling about his feet. I grinned and pushed myself up, running into the waves and splashing Killua as soon as I got there. We played and splashed each other, laughing. I turned and glanced at Kabuto, he was lying on his back, most likely asleep. I stopped the splashing and whispered a plan in Killua's ear. Together we snuck up on Kabuto and swiftly buried him in the sand.  
"Wh-what? Kori why!?" He asked, looking up at me pleadingly.  
"Because it was funny and we could." I grinned and kissed his forehead. Killua snickered from Kabuto's other side.   
"Exactly. It was funny." Killua grinned, one that matched mine. He leaned on Kabuto's sand-covered side, still smiling. I bet anyone who would have passed would have thought we were a family out for the day. But it was Sound country. Like anyone was going to pass by.  
"Oh alright it's funny. Now get me out of here!" Kabuto said, trying to move. He couldn't, the combined weight of the sand and then Killua was too much. "Please?" He said pathetically, looking at me with a look to match. I giggled and nodded.  
"Ooh okay." I said and Killua and I got to work. When we were done Kabuto stood up and shook himself free of all sand.  
"You know what this means, right?" He asked, brushing off his shirt. Killua and I both shook our heads. "This means war!" Kabuto said, grinning evily and lunging for Killua and I. We set off towards the waves, laughing and squealing when Kabuto nearly caught us. Kabuto caught me around the waist and we both went down face-first into the sand. I rolled out from underneath him and sputtered, wiping sand off my face and laughing.  
"Okay you got me. I admit." I said, laying back on the sand and breathing hard with exhaustion. Killua's face appeared in my vision, he was standing over me looking down chuckling.  
"You alright Kori?" He asked, kneeling down. I tipped my head back and looked back up at him.  
"I'm good." I grinned.  
"She's fine. Just tired because she can't outrun me." Kabuto said and I turned my head to look at him.  
"Oh. Now that was just rude." I said, sitting up and scoffing. Kabuto just grinned and layed back on the sand again. "That's tempting you know." I said, eyeing the sand next to him.  
"Don't you dare." Kabuto said, sitting up again. Killua chuckled, as did I. "We need to start heading back anyways." Kabuto stood up and brushed sand off his backside. Killua held out a hand and pulled me up. He was stronger than he looked. Quite a bit stronger. Kabuto took my hand, and I took Killua's with my other. We set off again, this time at a faster pace. It was growing closer to nightime and Sound country at night isn't the safest place to be. We were going along fine, until we stopped in a clearing for a short break.  
"Do you hear that?" Kabuto asked, shushing Killua and I and listening intently. He tipped his head and payed attention to whatever it was he heard. "There's someone coming." After he said that I heard it too. Someone was moving swiftly through the trees, leaping from branch to branch. The style of transportation reminded me of a Leaf ninja. One from Konoha.  
"Kori take Killua and hide over there in the trees. Stay low and quiet." Kabuto instructed, pointing to a thicket. I took Killua's hand and lead him to the thicket. We crouched behind the bushes and undergrowth, peering through the leaves. Kabuto stood in the middle of the clearing, waiting for whoever it was.  
"I can hear you. If you'd come out now that would make your mission alot easier and save me the trouble of looking for you." Kabuto called out, pushing up his glasses and smirking. A single kunai flew from out of the trees and narrowly missed him. Kabuto stood there, unruffled. "Huh. That was close. Good aim." Another flew out from the oppisite side of the clearing, planting itself in the ground at Kabuto's feet. A 'thunk' sounded and a woman appeared. She was tall, and wore a chain/net type shirt and long wide pants. Her hair was black, really deep black, swept back into a single braid. She could have been Hotaru's mother if it weren't for her shining silver eyes and the killer intent pulsing around her. She was clearly an assassin sent for Kabuto.  
"How you found me I don't know but I will let you know now that if you even try to touch me you'll be quite sorry." Kabuto sounded overly cocky, something that surely could get him killed. I frowned but didn't speak. Kabuto could handle this on his own. If he needed me he'd call.  
"Huh. Whatever. Now if you'll just stay still my job will be alot easier." The woman said, pulling another kunai out of the pouch on her leg and spinning it once around her finger before charging at Kabuto. He stepped to the side, easily dodging her attack.  
"So I can't at least know the name of my assassin? You obviously know who I am." Kabuto asked, still smirking and sidestepping her every blow.  
"Koe." The woman muttered. She gritted her teeth and swung at Kabuto again with the kunai, very narrowly missing his throat. Kabuto's face flashed surprise as he stepped back.  
"Wow. You are good." He said and launched himself off the ground, landing on a branch with barely a sound. Koe stopped her attacking and looked up at him.  
"I am. Thank you. Now you know... I don't have to kill you just yet..." Koe said, putting her hand on her hip and shooting Kabuto a flirty smile. A vein twitched in my forehead. "There are other skills I posess." Kabuto shifted his postion on the branch.  
"Hm. No. Thanks for the offer though." He said and I smirked smugly. "I have a girl. And it's her turn to deal with you. Kori!" He called and I was out of the bush at once.  
"Oh look at this a cute little girl!" Koe exclaimed. She placed both hands on her hips and laughed. I pulled out a few senbon and stood at the ready. Koe looked into my eyes, as if trying to read my mind. I glared solidly back into hers, waiting for her to strike. We stood there for at least a minute straight. Most likely longer. Then her face changed. It was softer. Her lips parted just a bit as if she were in a trance and she straightened up.  
"What? Afraid to kill a cute little girl?" I demanded, standing up straight myself. Koe shook her head and put a hand to it.  
"I... I don't know. I just can't bring myself to attack you..." She looked up at me, fury in her eyes. "What are you doing to me?" She demanded.  
"I'm not doing anything! I have no mind powers!" I said, holding up a kunai in defiance. Koe crumpled to the ground, holding her head.  
"This has never happened before... I can kill without thought... what's going on...?" She muttered to herself, shaking her head. Kabuto landed on the ground, as silently as he'd jumped into the tree and knelt beside her.  
"Hm. Kori somehow she's lost her killer intent." He said, looking over at me. "You could kill her right now and she wouldn't be able to do a thing." I walked over and looked at the poor twitching woman kneeling on the ground.  
"Well. What should we do with her?" I asked, kneeling down next to him. Koe twitched agian before standing up.  
"You could leave me alone. I have no intentions to kill either of you now so I'm leaving to go find my killer intent." She said, crossing her arms and walking away. Kabuto and I looked at each other.   
"Well that was wierd..." We said simultaneously.  
Koe called out from the trees, "I'll be back! You can be sure of it!" I just smirked and nodded. 'Whatever, Koe.' I thought. She couldn't touch us.


	11. Chapter 11

I was still smirking a bit when we'd made it back to the hideout.That Koe, she was highly entertaining. And if I'd somehow taken away her killer intent once, I could probably do it agian. Killua was also smirking, he seemed pleased that we'd evaded her. Kabuto was calm as always, he'd dealt with this type of thing many times before. More times than I'd like to count.  
"Well Killua did you enjoy your day out?" He asked, turning to the boy who resembled him so much he could be his son. Killua looked up at him and nodded.  
"Yes, I did actually." He said, smiling. Kabuto smiled back and ruffled the boy's hair, then smiled at me before leaving back down to the lab. I smiled back and layed a hand on Killua's shoulder, telling him it was probably time for him to go to bed.  
"Honestly?" Killua whined, looking up at me with big eyes and probably the cutest pout I've ever seen. I laughed and patted his head.   
"Yes Killua. You're still a kid. Kids have bedtimes. Even if they are assassins." I said and pointed in the direction of his room, which he was sharing with Sasuke. I knew he didn't like that fact, but there was honestly no more room and Kabuto didn't want to share a room with two people. And I was not going to put Killua in the same room as Orochimaru. Killua crossed his arms.  
"Psh. Assassins shouldn't have to listen to lab rats." He muttered, sniffing and looking away. I rolled my eyes and smirked, hitting him on the back of the head, just hard enough to startle him.  
"Go to bed young man. I'll make you breakfast in the morning." I said, ruffling his hair and pushing him in the direction of his door. He shook me off and frowned, but went inside anyways. I just smirked again and went into the kitchen. Some tea sounded nice. Kabuto's tea sounded even better. I dug through the cabniets, trying to find his stash of mint tea that was specifically for him. Upon finding it, a wide grin spread across my face and I took out a bag and swiftly put it back. Swirling the tea bag in the empty mug, I waited for the water to heat in the kettle. I heard Kabuto and Orochimaru come upstairs and I fell silent. It seemed like they were arguing. Something I'd never heard out of them. Kabuto always just up and agreed with Orochimaru. This was new. I poured water into my mug and listened.  
"Orochimaru-sama, please. This plan is wrong, there's not even a high chance that it will work." Kabuto pleaded, I could hear stress creeping into his voice.  
"No, Kabuto-kun. We are going along with this plan and there is nothing that is going to change that." Orochimaru said. He sounded angry. I cringed a bit and sipped at the tea, leaning against the counter.   
"Orochimaru-sama, I'm begging you. She's not right for this, please let me find someone else. Please." Kabuto contined. I perked up at the mention of 'her'. Could that be me?  
"Kabuto. Listen to me. She is perfect for this plan because she trusts you compleatly and will do anything for you. Even if it is bearing another man's child. Now go wake Sasuke-kun and bring him down to the lab so I can tell him the developments." Orochimaru said, I could honestly hear the fury and scowl in his tone. Now that made me wince. They were talking about me. Me and... and Sasuke?!? Having a child? How in the hell was that supposed to happen and what would come of it? Another lab rat for Orochimaru? I thought. What did Orochimaru want most? I nearly dropped my mug as I realized. The Sharingan. Even though I wasn't from his clan's village, I knew of the Uchiha's bloodline. Who didn't, living with the man who desired it most? If Sasuke and I were to have a child, then that child would have the Sharingan. There would be no unnessecary killing or body-transferral. I shuddered at the thought of sleeping with any man other than Kabuto. Then I got angry. How could Kabuto go along with this? Of course I'd just heard him begging Orochimaru not to do it, but he'd still agreed in the beginning. I gripped the handle of my mug so tightly I thought it was going to break. Relaxing, I told myself I'd confront Kabuto as soon as Orochimaru was out of earshot.

..........

As I lay on my pallet next to the snoring black-haired boy who didn't seem much older than me, I heard the door to Kori and Kabuto's room open and shut quickly. Sounded like someone was mad or upset. I sat up and pressed my ear against the wall. I could hear muffled talking and I shut my eyes to focus on my hearing.  
"Kabuto I need to talk to you." I heard Kori say. The girl who'd I tried to kill was upset, you could hear it. However muffled. A chair was dragged across the floor. I suspected that was Kabuto, dragging his desk chair over to the side of Kori's bed.   
"What is it, Kori-chan?" Even though he seemed perfectly calm like normal, my trained ears picked up a hint of worry.  
"I heard you talking to Orochimaru-sama awhile ago. What's his plan for me? And don't try to say there isn't one because you know I'm not that stupid." Kori said. I imagined her crossing her arms and scowling. Kabuto sighed.  
"No. No you're not. You're too god damn smart for your own good that's what you are." Kabuto said and sighed again. "When you got here, nearly dead of blood loss, I examined you as any good med-nin would. Do you know what I found out?" He asked.  
"I was nearly dead and I had no clue why?"  
"No. You're unable to have children, did you know that?" I imagined Kori's eyes widening at that.  
"N-no.. I didn't..."  
"You are. But once Sasuke-kun got here, Orochimaru-sama has wanted the sharingan even more. He's brilliant you know. Came up with this plan. If you and Sasuke were to have a child, then he wouldn't have to kill Sasuke with the body transfer. He wouldn't have to waste him and his talents. He'd have two Uchihas at his disposal and command. You'd be just another lab rat he could chuck out once you were well enough to leave." Kabuto was explaining, and his voice was cracking. "So I made a drug, a potion really. To make you fertile. That second night you stayed here after we kissed, I injected you with it."  
"Kabuto what are you saying? You're going to go along with Orochimaru's plan? How could you, Kabuto, how could you?" Kori was definitly in tears now. Her voice was cracking and wavering. The chair squeaked again and I knew it was Kabuto moving to the bed to hold Kori.  
"Kori you don't understand, I never, ever wanted to do it. I was forced too. Kori please belive me I honestly didn't want too." Kabuto said, over and over. Kori was crying and probably trying to push Kabuto away.  
"Then why in the hell did you do it, Kabuto? Why?" She nearly yelled. But she was smart enough, even while upset to keep her voice down.  
"Because I only did it for the possiblitiy that you and I could have a full life together!" Kabuto said and then fell silent. Kori did too and I could hear Kabuto sobbing. Kori was most likely just standing there speechless, tears running down her face and maybe a hand over her mouth. I guess Kabuto to be holding his head in his hands and trying to quiet himself. I sat there silently waiting for any sound that would mean movement. After probably ten or fifteen minutes, I heard the mattress squeak and figured it was Kori sitting down to hold Kabuto. The second squeak was Kabuto turning to hold Kori and cry on her shoulder. I doubted that this happened often. Kabuto wasn't one to show emotion. I'd only known him two days but even I could see that. I pressed my hand agianst the wall and listened harder. Kabuto's sobs had stopped and I wondered if they'd fallen asleep or if they were just sitting there holding each other. The urge I had to go see what was going on struck me as odd. I hardly knew these people, thier fights were none of my business. But still, I wanted go make sure they were alright so badly. Like they were my... parents... or something. I shook the odd feelings and thoughts out of my head and layed back down. Thier fights were none of my business, I kept repeating to myself. I shut my eyes and turned my back to the wall, not wanting to listen anymore. I fell asleep not-so-quickly, tossing and turning before finnally falling into a very light sleep.

.................

I held Kori close and buried my face in the crook of her neck. I was angry with myself for not telling her what was going on before, and for crying. I never cried. But I had hurt Kori so badly and I just couldn't stand it. She held me and layed her head on the top of mine. I could tell she was still upset, and even though I'd told her the truth, she was definitly going through an inner conflict. Kori couldn't belive that I'd done it at all in the first place, even if it were really for us and not for Sasuke or Orochimaru. It would take alot to earn her trust back and I'd do anything I could to gain it back. And I meant anything. I now had something that meant more to me than my own life. She was the light in this dark dungeon that I'd chosen to live in. I had to keep her with me, I loved her and I wouldn't let Orochimaru take her from me nor would I let Sasuke be her first. If anyone was going to be, it would be me. I knew it sounded wrong. But she was mine. She belonged to only me and that is how it is. Kori was my girl and nobody was going to change that. They'd have to kill me first.


	12. Chapter 12

I awoke still in Kori's arms, besides the fact that she was now leaning against her headboard and I had my head on her chest. I moved my face and felt dried tears cracking with the movement. My stirring woke Kori, who's eyes fluttered open.  
"Morning, Kabuto." She said, yawning and rubbing her eyes with the hand that wasn't on my shoulder. I pulled myself up and kneeled on the bed in front of her.  
"You still upset?" I asked timidly. Kori shrugged and smiled a little.  
"I'll be fine. I was upset but I know the truth now and I'm fine." She said, leaning towards me a bit. I leaned forward the rest of the way and pulled her into my arms, tucking her head under my chin and stroking her hair.  
"I'm so glad, Kori-chan." I said, burying my face in her hair. Kori wrapped her arms around my chest and pressed her lips against my neck. "Do you honestly know how much I love you?" I asked, not really expecting a reply.  
"I know how much I love you." She replied, turning her head. I sighed and squeezed her tight for a moment.  
"You're comparing this small Sound Country to the entire continent." I said. Kori scoffed.  
"Ha. That's quite backwards." She said. I smirked and shook my head.  
"I don't think so." I said and kissed the top of her head agian. We stayed like that for a few minutes, and then came a knock at the door.  
"Kori? Kabuto? Can I come in, please?" Killua's voice was muffled behind the wood.  
"Yes. Come in." I said. Kori nodded but didn't move. Killua opened the door and peeked his head in.  
"Er... What happened last night? I heard fighting." He said, rather meekly. Kori and I pulled apart, she motioned for him to come over. He came in and closed the door behind him, then came over and sat on the edge of the bed in front of Kori. She reached forward and pushed his hair back.  
"It was just a misunderstanding, that's all. Really nothing to worry about." Kori said. Killua frowned.  
"Then why was he" he pointed to me, "of all people crying?" Killua asked, raising an eyebrow. My mouth dropped open.  
“Do you have like super-sonic hearing or something?” I asked, embarrassed that he’d heard that. Killua nodded.  
“I do actually, thank you. Heard every squeak of the bed too.” He said. “So really what happened? Something about Kori being an experiment?”   
“Yes and that’s really all you need to know, besides the fact that Sasuke-kun was a part of it too. I’m sure you can figure it out from there with your brain and the information you already know.” I said. Killua nodded.  
“Yup I’ve got it. You know Kori, if that plan ever does come into action, I sure feel sorry for you.” He said, laying a hand on Kori’s arm.  
“Why, Killua? Besides the obvious, I mean.” She asked.  
“Because that boy can snore. Try sleeping in the same room with him, I mean really I’m amazed I got any sleep at all!” Killua said, raising his hands in exsasperation. Kori burst out laughing.  
“Is that all?” She asked, her laughs quieting.  
“Well ya I mean the obvious has already been stated. So why not cheer you up a bit?” Killua said with a smirk that reminded me of my own.  
“Well thank you dear, that was really kind of you.” Kori said and leaned forward to leave a kiss on Killua’s forehead. Killua blushed slightly, and smiled, touching the spot gently with his fingertips.  
“Yes Killua thanks for that. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever have her happy again.” I said, reaching out and laying my hand gently on the boy’s head. He smiled wider.  
“You’re welcome. I’ve come to like Kori and if she’s unhappy then we have a problem.” Killua said. Kori grinned at him.  
“Well I thank you again. And Kabuto?” Her tone changed to a more serious one and she looked me straight in the eye. I cringed a bit internally.  
“Yes, Kori-chan?”  
“Thank you for telling me the truth.” She said, leaning forward to kiss me on the cheek. I turned my head and caught her lips on mine, wrapping my arm around her shoulders and kissing her with all my emotion in it, the third time I’d kissed her this way.  
“Oooh ew I’m leaving!” Killua said, laughing. Kori pulled away and laughed too.  
“Sorry, sorry, couldn’t help it.” She said between giggles. A wide smile spread across my face and I laughed too.   
“Don’t do that in front of the kids!” Killua said.  
“Aw but you’re so easy to creep out, Killua!” Kori said, teasing.  
“Still. Don’t.” He said, growing more serious. 

................

I laughed at the boy's stony expression and sat up to ruffle his hair agian. "Alright we won't, not in front of you." I said, smiling. I got up and straightned out my skirt. "Shall we go see what Orochimaru-sama has for us to do today?" I asked, looking between the two of them.  
Kabuto nodded. "Yes that's a good plan." He said, getting up also and pushing up his glasses. "I'm sure we'll have to work a bit more on corpses today, Kori-chan." Kabuto smirked slightly and I frowned. The cadavers didn't bother Kabuto, but they did bother me a bit. I mean, dead bodies, come on.  
"Yes Kabuto thank you for that." I said and sighed. Kabuto just snickered. 'You bastard...' I thought, shaking my head. Killua got up and we went out the door, down to the lab. Orochimaru was there waiting for us, fiddling with some of his scrolls.  
"Ah, Kabuto-kun..." He began, pushing scrolls on the shelf and turning to us. "I need you to run a little errand for me."  
"What is it, Orochimaru-sama?" Kabuto asked.  
"You'll be taking a trip to the heart of the Earth Country for a little... shall we say, campaign trail." Orochimaru said, turning around. He had a smirk on his face, one that made me want to hide.  
"And what might my task be this trip?" Kabuto asked, straightening up a little. I glanced to Killua and saw that he was uncomfortable too, fidgeting just the smallest bit.  
"It would seem our Sasuke-kun's playmate has an interesting little secret. Konoha's beloved Yondaime had quite the little bastard... ku, ku, ku." Orochimaru's laugh was spine-tingling. "Oh Minato, you loathsome baine upon my soul..." Orochimaru said, looking up to the celing and shaking his head. Then he lowered his head again and his smirk returned. "He has left us quite the treat to play with, wouldn't you agree?"  
"You mean that Naruto, the one in the chunnin exams. Yes, he was highly interesting." Kabuto said, nodding.  
"Oh, but he shall become far more interesting... I'd like you to travel into the Hidden Rock Village and have a little chat about our little find. I'm sure quite a few of those among ANBU will be just tickled to learn of this. Konoha will have thier hands full for some time and we will gain the perfect opportunity to put Akatsuki where we want them, as this will interfere greatly with thier plans. And then with the shinobi world in turmoil, we shall make the world fall to its knees until they drown in a sea of thier own blood!" The look of near joy on that man's face nearly made me shudder. Luckily I didn't. Kabuto still didn't seem shaken.  
"Your plans are always so well thought out, Orochimaru-sama. I would be honoured to carry out this plan for you." Kabuto said, bowing slightly then standing straight again and pushing up his glasses.   
"Well of course you will, Kabuto-kun. You are my right arm, I expect you to return in success and in one piece. I would, after all, hate to see such tears in the eyes of your beloved... heh heh heh..." Orochimaru said, looking towards me with a more evil smirk than the one he had before. I had to bite my tounge to quell the urge to shudder. Kabuto did too, as I saw him stiffen.  
"But of course, Orochimaru-sama." He said with another low bow. "I'll leave this afternoon if it pleases you."  
"That would be nice, Kabuto-kun. Kori-chan, you will be taking over Kabuto's duties while he is away." Orochimaru said, looking at me again. "My research cannot be held back just because of a simple task."  
"Y-yes, Orochimaru-sama." I said and bowed slightly, as Kabuto had done.  
"And of course, our little stray cat can help you, Kori-chan." Orochimaru said, smirking down at Killua like he was indeed a pet. And a disposable one at that. My hands clenched into fists, but I undid them quickly before Orochimaru could see.   
"Kori-chan, make sure you do as Orochimaru-sama says. I'll be back as soon as I'm done." Kabuto said, turning to me and laying a hand on my shoulder. I nodded and he gave me a small smile, nearly unseeable small. Then he gently kissed my forehead, layed his hand on Killua's head for a split second, then left to go prepare for his trip. Killua and I turned back to Orochimaru, waiting for our instructions.   
"Please work on that corpse over there, Kori-chan. Killua, finish your cleaning. Then the day is yours to what you will with it." He said and after seeing our bows of recognition, he left.   
"He's worse than I imagined, Kori-chan." Killua said. I sighed and nodded.  
"That he is."


	13. Chapter 13

As I worked alone in scilence, I found my thoughts straying to who else, but Kabuto. 'I wonder what he's doing... if he's even there yet.' I mused, flipping over a piece of skin to view the muscle underneath. If I let my thoughts stray while working, I could handle the job much easier. 'Oh ugh. This guy's been under for awhile...' I glanced up at the face and watched the jaw twitch. My eyes widened. 'Holy hell... is he still alive...?' Quickly abandoning my scalpel, I charged chakra into my hand and checked the body's vitals. There WAS a heartbeat. Faint, but there it was. Pattering away.  
"OH BLOODY HELL." I said out loud and with major emphasis. "This guy's still here!" I stepped back and pointed to the body. Killua turned around and stood beside me.   
"Whoa... is he really...?" He asked, stepping forward and reaching out to poke the exposed muscle. I swiftly grabbed his hand.  
"Don't!" I said and pulled him back. "Let me sew that up, this guy needs medical attention." Pushing Killua aside, I grabbed the proper tools and set about sewing up the cut I'd just made along his inner forearm. 'Thank god I'm good at cutting... Or else this would be a major problem!' I thought, finishing the stitches and snipping the excess wire.  
"Can I touch it now?" Killua asked, appearing at my shoulder. I elbowed him back and shook my head.  
"No, Killua! Sheesh!" I said. "Wait. I'll tell you when. Help me move him to that other table over there." I pointed to the clean table across the room, the one that was used for live 'patients'. It had padding and a belt system to keep the 'patient' from moving during 'surgery'. We heaved the body up and carried it - with difficulty- over to the table and layed it down. "Killua we're gonna have to tie him down. Hand me the other side of that strap." Killua obliged and I buckled the man down tightly around his stomach.  
"Mkay get the one on his legs." I said, and did up the strap across his shoulders. "Make sure it's tight." Killua nodded and tugged on the leather, pulling it taught.  
"Hate to do this to ya, buddy but we can't have you kicking Kori-chan in the face while she's trying to fix you." Killua said with a smirk. God did he look like Kabuto. I stared at him with a raised eyebrow for a moment before turning back to my new patient. Charging up the chakra in my hands again, I held my hands, stacked on one another, over his heart.  
"Alright... injuries... ailments... where are you...?" I whispered, closing my eyes and letting my chakra do the work. There was a small pin-prick like cut in the man's neck. Like a needle. "Orochimaru... you poisoned him..." I whispered and opened my eyes. "Okay eaiser to fix than I thought." I said, dispelling my chakra and putting my hands down. 'Although... it wouldn't hurt for just one more shinobi to die, would it...? I mean... they go missing all the time... and we do need more test subjects...' I thought, crossing my arms. 'Kabuto's body scroll only stays full so long... It wouldn't hurt to have a few extra lieing around...'   
"Kori-chan what is keeping you? Aren't you going to save him?" Killua asked, leaning on the counter on the other side of the table. His voice brought me back to reality. My head snapped up and I stood speechless for a moment.  
"Oh, uh... y-ya." I furrowed my brow and bit my lip, jerking those thoughts out of my mind. "Ya, I'm gonna." I charged my chakra again and held a hand at the pinprick. 'Where did that come from...? Am I becoming more like Kabuto...? And Orochimaru?' I asked myself, my face showing confusion. 'Well after being here for so long I suppose it was inviteable... but still it's strange.' Having healed over the wound from the needle, I moved my hand back over his chest. "Alright poison where are you hiding?"  
"Kori it can't hear you." Killua said. He was leaning with his elbows on the edge of the table now, his chin in his hands. I scowled at him and he backed up.  
"It helps me focus now shush." I said, he nodded. I closed my eyes again and searched for the foreign substance. It was all over in his bloodstream, but it was concentrated mostly near his heart. 'Ah. Brilliant. Fine tuned-work. Should be interesting.' I thought to my self and rolled my eyes under their lids. Sighing, I opened my eyes and looked at the man's face. His mouth was slightly parted now, lips ashen. He had long brown hair in a ponytail, similar to Kabuto's. As I looked him over, I realized he looked alot like Kabuto. Right down to his style of clothing. Although, minus the glasses and plus a chain connected to his pants, and a ring on his hand. There was also no metal on the band around his head. There was no telling where he was from. Raising an eyebrow, I just shook my head and pulled out my scalpel from where it was sticking out of my belt. I sliced a clean line into the man's shirt and pulled it back, then cut his skin over his heart just deep enough to break a vein.   
"Kori... what'd you do that for?" Killua asked, and leaned closer.  
"I have to pull the poison out of his bloodstream. Now get outta the light." Killua stepped back and I charged up chakra yet again, holding my hand over his heart and shutting my eyes. The poison was eaiser to see now, a dark spot against the chakra system's bright blue.   
"Killua. Get me some salt water. And a syringe. I'll have to use Saikan Chuushutsu no Jutsu." I said, looking up at him. "It's the only way." Killua nodded and gathered the required tools.  
Filling the syringe with salt water, I infused it with my chakra. The liquid glowed softly with it, filling the room with an almost omonius light. I sqeezed down on the plunger a bit to release air bubbles and then injected it into my patient's body right near the cut I had made. His body tensed up a bit. He was definitly still alive. Unconscious, but alive. "Alright. That's done. Now to get the poison into it..." I closed my eyes and held a chakra-charged hand over the incision, moving the chakra-infused solution to wrap itself around the poison. After it was fully covered, I pulled my hand up, pulling the chakra with it. And in turn, the poison. I opened my eyes and looked at the liquid sphere I had hovering over my hand.   
"Killua you're gonna have to move." I said, stepping around the table and walking towards the sink Killua was now leaning agianst. He jumped out of the way and I turned my hand over and dumped the solution down the drain. "That. Was. Nasty." I said, grimacing. Then I turned back and quickly healed over the cut I had made. "He should be fine now. Just have to let him rest and get his strength back up. Then we can go stick him back in whatever villiage he got stolen from." I said and leaned back against the counter next to Killua, who was running water in the sink to wash down the rest of the poison.   
A few minutes later the man's eyes fluttered and he shifted, as if trying to put a hand to his head. His eyes opened and he looked down at himself then over at me. His eyes widened a bit, as if he recognized the lab. "H-how'd I get here...?" He asked, looking down at his bonds agian.  
"Orochimaru-sama poisoned you then asked me to finish you off." I said bluntly, undoing the strap around his shoulders so he could move his arms. The look on his face was unexplainable. As if he wanted to laugh but then again there was a look of horror upon it.  
"They finally caught me..." He said then smirked. He looked up at the ceiling.  
"Uhm... finnally?" I asked, raising an eyebrow and crossing my arms. "What in the world do you mean?"  
"I mean that I've been following Kabuto-san and Orochimaru-sama around forever. They finnally caught me." He looked... giddy. Like he was glad he was captured. He was so confusing.  
"Uhm yes and they poisoned you. Well Orochimaru-sama did." I said, leaning back agianst the counter agian.  
"Do you work for him too?" He asked, looking over at me. I nodded. "Ah another subordiante. I'll have to put you on file too. What's your name?" He asked. Just out of the blue, he wanted to know everything. I stood there shocked, my mouth hanging open a bit.  
"K-kori... why? Why in the world...?" I stammered, raising an eyebrow and shaking my head slightly. He was just so strange. Almost like.. a fan... or paparazzi.  
"Oh." His eyes widened again and he shut up, looking to the ceiling. Obviously he knew when to be quiet. "If I promise not to put you on file, can I leave?" He looked at me again. My eyebrows raised even more and I scoffed.  
"You honestly think I'll just let you go...? Hahaha! Even I'm not that stupid!" I laughed.   
"I know that. But really I haven't let out any secrets before. I just annoy Orochimaru-sama I think..." The man said. My laughs died down.   
"Alright... I'll trust you this one. Time." I said, purposely spacing out the words. "Seriously I get any word of you spilling ANYTHING. I. Will. See. You. Again." I took a small step forward with each word, putting extra emphasis on them. He laughed nervously and nodded.  
"Heh... hehheh alright. I swear." He said. I undid the other two bonds and nearly in an instant he was off the table. "Thank you Kori-san!" He said, then ran to the other side of the room where a small window was, at the top of the celing. The man jumped up and grabbed the sill, then pulled himself up enough to unlatch it and crawl out. Killua and I stood there with astonished looks on our faces, watching him get up, brush his pants off then dart away after closing the window.  
"That was wierd." Killua said. All I could do was stand there and nod.


	14. Chapter 14

I turned over in bed and faced Kabuto's side of the room. It was odd, not having him here. Made it difficult to sleep.  
'I wonder if Killua would want to sleep in a real bed for awhile...' I thought, turning over onto my other side. I tapped on the wall and whispered, "Killua? Are you awake? Can you hear me?"  
I got two taps back for a yes.   
"Could you come here?" I whispered. After a minute, there came two more taps at the wall and I heard someone shuffling. A moment later, Killua knocked softly at the door then peeked his head in.  
"Kori?" He whispered. I sat up and beckoned him in. He walked to the side of my bed, holding a blanket. "What did you want me in here for?" He asked quietly, his eyelids drooping. He must've been asleep.  
"It's too quiet in here, I'm used to Kabuto being in here." I explained, pointing to his empty bed. "Want to sleep in here so I can actually get some rest?" I gave him a small smile, hoping to persuade him. Killua looked over at Kabuto's bed.  
"Sure, why not? It's a bed." He said and looked over his shoulder to smile at me before spreading his blanket out on top of the bed and laying down under it. I smiled back at him and layed down myself.  
"Thanks, Killua." I said. He yawned and nodded.  
"Sure, sure. Going to sleep now." Killua said, turning his back to me. I just smiled and shut my eyes. He was a sweet kid.

..........................

I opened my eyes and turned back over to look at Kori. She was asleep, dead asleep. If I had wanted to try and kill her now I could have. Instead I just laid there, my head propped up in my hand while I leaned on my elbow. Giving a heavy sigh, I looked down at my other hand. 'These hands have killed so many already.' Why can't I bring myself to kill her?' I mused, looking back up to Kori.  
'Is it because of how nice she is to me? Because she's... motherly...?' I fought back a cringe and laid back down. 'Sure, she's like a mom I would have wanted... but.. it still doesn't make any sense. And then there's Kabuto. He's nothing like a father. He has no clue how to take care of anyone besides himself... but I can't bring myself to kill him either!' I sighed again, although softer this time, and placed a hand over my face. 'I hate this. I'm supposed to be an emotionless killing machine. That's how my mother raised me. I'm not supposed to be... compassionate...'   
And with that I finally realized I was tired and drifted off, curling up on my side into a ball.   
The dreams I had that night were unexplainable. My subconcious showed me memories of my childhood, except they were different. Kori and Kabuto were my parents, and instead of being tourtured and trained like I had been, I was raised with love. And I ended up as a ninja working for Orochimaru. It made no sense at all.   
When I awoke the next morning, Kori was still asleep, curled up on her side almost exactly as I had been. I sat up and looked out the window to judge the time. It was probably about six in the morning. I pushed the blanket off my lap then walked silently over to Kori's bed and looked at her. She was definitly asleep, her ponytail askew and her lips parted just slightly. It seemed as if she was dreaming still. About what, I wasn't sure I wanted to know.  
"Heh." A smirk spread on my face and I reached out and laid my hand lightly on her shoulder, shaking it gently. "Kori, Kori, it's time to wake up. Come on, there's work to do. Like you said." I called, shaking her still. She stirred just a little and rolled onto her stomach.  
"Oh no you don't." I said and stabbed her with my finger in the side. "Get up. Come on." Kori then rolled back onto her back and looked up at me.  
"For a minute there I could have sworn you were Kabuto in a younger form and with spiky hair. Plus you smirk just like he does." Kori said, sitting up and stretching her arms out. She smiled at me then pushed her blankets towards the end of the bed. I stepped back to let her out of bed.  
"That's probably the most unusual thing I have heard in my lifetime." I said, smirking again.  
"I wouldn't doubt it." Kori nodded, then walked over to her dresser. "Now let me get dressed dear and I'll meet you downstairs." I agreed and then returned to the room I share with Sasuke, to get dressed myself.  
"That's a new outfit, Kori." I said, raising an eyebrow at her dark pants and light blue shirt. "What's with the change?" I asked from the doorway of the lab.  
Kori turned to me and smoothed out her shirt. "I got the order from Orochimaru-sama already, you and I get to go to Konoha for a little bit. We've been told to gather a few of Sasuke-kun's things so he'll be more willing to live here." She explained, motioning with her hand while shoving the other into her pocket. "We get to go in disguise." There was a small look of glee upon her face as she said that, as if Kori didn't get out of the lab much. And from what I'd seen, she really didn't.  
"Oh. Well then. I have to change too, don't I?" I asked, looking down at my standard outfit. Purple shorts, matching turtleneck, light purple shirt over that. I'd been wearing that forever. It was like a trademark.  
"Probably. I bet I can find some stuff that'll fit you. We can raid Kabuto's clothes." Kori said with an evil smirk and a wink. I couldn't help but laugh.   
"Alright. We'll do that then." I said and nodded, then followed her back upstairs. When we'd found an outfit that resembled hers - she was going in the disguise as a courier ninja, made it easier to get into places - and fit me fairly well, I went back to my shared room and found Sasuke there, sitting in the single chair and staring out the window. I dumped my new clothes on the pallet and pulled off my overshirt. Sasuke looked over to determine the source of the noise.  
"You're going to Konoha with Kori-san, aren't you?" He asked. His voice was low, and nearly monotone. I nodded.  
"Could you get something specific for me?" Sasuke asked, sitting up a bit straighter, like he was uncomfortable talking to a complete stranger, nevertheless asking for a favor. Like he was uncomfortable talking to anyone, really.  
"What?" I asked, hoping to sound just as dull as him.  
"The Uchiha family scrolls... I'd like them." He said, looking me in the eyes. I nodded.  
"I'll get them."


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter of the First Draft.

I rolled over in my sleep and found something pressed next to the skin of my arm. Opening my eyes slowly, I saw that it was no other but my dear girl Kori. Smiling, I reached out and touched her cheek gently.  
"Kori, my dear. It's time to wake up." I whispered softly, leaning forward and kissing her cheek lightly. Her eyes fluttered then opened fully. It took me a moment to realize they were different. I blinked and looked again. The pupils had turned into slits and her irises were yellow. I realized that I'd seen those eyes before. "Kori...?" I questioned, furrowing my eyebrows. She smiled, but it wasn't her smile. It was... Orochimaru's...  
"Good morning, Kabuto-kun. Don't you find my new form pleasing?" The voice that came from her was not her own. It was deeper... more male. The 'S's were dragged out slightly, like a snake's hiss.  
"Wh-what...?" I stammered, leaning back as my mouth fell open.  
"Kukuku... come now, Kabuto-kun... I know you find this body to your liking... why else would you be so determined to keep it out of my grasp...?" Kori - no - Orochimaru-sama in Kori's body - asked, sliding closer to me. His long snake like tounge slid from between Kori's lips and ran over my cheek lightly. I pulled back even further, scrambling into a sitting position.  
"O-orochimaru-sama..." I stuttered, scooting back against the wall. 'No! Why!? Why!??' I yelled in my mind, too frightened to speak. He just followed me and kneeled in front of me, reaching out with her hand - my Kori's hand - to stroke my cheek.  
"Because, Kabuto-kun... I needed a new host and you weren't there to protect your beloved Kori-chan." Orochimaru said, then I woke up, covered in cold sweat and my heart pounding. I sat up, my damp hair stuck to my back and I put a hand on my heart. Breathing heavily, I looked around to note where I was. An inn on the outskirts of the Rock country. Right where I had fallen asleep the last night. Pulling my knees up and placing my head in my hands, my hair fell forward over my shoulders and formed a sort of curtain between me and the world.  
Taking another breath, I let it out as a sigh. 'Kori-chan... please still be safe. Thank Kami that was only a dream...' I thought then laid back down and stared up at the celing, putting a hand on my forehead. 'Thank Kami...'  
I turned my head to glance out the window. It had to be maybe five in the morning, the darkness of night was just barely retreating. The shapes were blurred as I didn't have my glasses on, but I could still see well enough to tell that. I faced the celing again and layed my arm over my stomach.  
'I hope she's alright... her and Killua both.' I thought, closing my eyes. Thier faces came into my vision, and as I saw Kori I felt a small smile form on my lips. 'She's strong and clever. I bet she's fine. Just working away, trying her hardest not to be disgusted by the corpses. I'll have to kick her out of that habit.' I'd have to teach her to be more like me. Not bothered what-so-ever about dead people. Teach her not to be so compassionate. It's not like the people's lives actually really mattered to us. Unless there was something Orochimaru-sama wanted out of them.   
Having that thought made me think back to when I'd found Kori. I questioned my reasons for bringing her back at first. At that time she was not but an old, supressed, fading memory. And yet one that still had a strong impact whenever I'd thought of it.  
The Chunnin Exams had been held in the Rain Country that year, in the Hidden Village of Rain. I was sixteen. So in all reality it had been four years ago. It was one of the first times I'd gone, I'd lost track I'd been to so many. I had been walking in the street behind my sensei as we went towards where the Examination was, and suddenly got barreled into by someone. They got knocked down, since I was larger and stronger. I stopped and looked down to see who I'd ran into. It was a young girl, with her brown hair up in a bun on the top of her head. She was rubbing the spot in front of that bun with her eyes shut before I spoke.  
"Watch where you're going, baka." I said, and stepped around her to follow my team. I heard her get up and turn on her heel to face me.  
"Hey! Why don't you get back here and apologize for pushing me over!?" She yelled, and I looked over my shoulder, raising an eyebrow. She was standing with her hands on her hips, feet planted a shoulder's width apart and the worst look on her face. I smirked and held back a scoff.  
"Really? You're the one who's uncoordinated, not me." I said and turned back around. A split second later I had sidestepped her attack and was holding her by the wrist as she tryed to regain her balance. I sqeezed her wrist and pulled her face to mine so I could see her properly. "Behave yourself, gaki, or you just might get killed." I whispered, then smirked before letting go and shoving her away. And with that, I left her fuming on the street, I knew because I could feel her eyes boring into the back of my head as she glared.  
I didn't see her again until the day I left, and it was only for a moment. I passed through the gate the same time she and a man whom I assumed to be her father did. The girl shot me a glare, a heated one that would have scared anyone else. I smirked again and jumped up into the trees, well on my way back to the hideout to deliver infromation. I didn't see her again until I was 18, and even then, at first I didn't realize it was her.   
As I examined the girl's body that was lying on the forest floor, I looked at her face and the grimace of pain that was on her face. The way her eyebrows were scrunched up looked familiar. I went back through my own memories and my infromation cards, trying to find something that rang a bell. It didn't help. I didn't realize it was her until I had her head patched up and she was coming back to conciousness. As I helped her sit up slowly, I watched her movements and realized that the accuracy, even while dazed, could only be that of a courier ninja. That's when it had clicked. And also why I brought her back to the compound in the first place, to teach the awful girl some proper manners. And now look what had become of it.  
I smiled at that thought. We had seriously hated each other, not even hardly knowing each other. 'Amazing what a knock to the head can do...' I thought. Kori had no memory besides a few flashes of her childhood of before the time I'd rescued her. So she didn't remember that encounter when she was thirteen. I'd decided not to tell her, but instead see if her memories would ever come back.  
'Although I do wonder what will happen the day she remembers I nearly broke her wrist...' I thought and turned onto my side, smirking. 'I guess I'll just have to wait and see.'


	16. First Draft Bonuses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first half is Kori's first night at the Complex, the second half is when they sleep together. (aw, baby's first smut. It's bad, don't expect to be wowed.)

I open my my eyes to a dark room and gasp for breath. Where am I...?  
"You're awake." Comes a voice from my right. I turn my head and see the overhead light glint off a pair of glasses. A hand pushes them up and whoever they belong to gets up and moves towards me. I try to move but I find I'm strapped down the bed, or table, or whatever it is I'm lying on.  
"You're strapped down, I wouldn't suggest moving unless you'd like a few ateries severed." The voice says again. It's perfectly calm, and yet the tone of maliciousness hovering over it is enough to make me shudder. The figure steps closer, and I draw back into the bed. I see - to add to my dispair - what could be one of the most handsome faces I have ever seen. Framed by thick, silver bangs and large round glasses. The smirk that is slowly spreading over it makes my eyes widen in fear. This is a smirk of pure amusement. Amusement at another's pain, suffering and confusion.  
I can sesne some unknown instinct pulling at me, telling me to run away. But since I'm strapped down, I can't barely move, except twitch my fingers and turn my head from side to side.  
A hand is laid on my stomach and a greenish-white glow fills the room. I look down as best I can, but that's not very much. All I see is that glow. Looking back up, I see the hand is connected to the figure, thier glasses now glinting green. I still can't see his eyes.  
The hand is removed after a few moments of agonizing impatience and used to push up his glasses agian.  
"You're lucky. Getting stabbed that close to your stomach could have proved fatal. And it seems your head is nearly healed also." He places his hands on either side of my head and out of my perifrial vision I see that green glow again. I shut my eyes to try and block out the blinding light, but it doesn't help much.  
"Yes. The healing process is taking some time but it's going along nicely." He says, looking down with that smirk again before leaning back and making the glow stop. I still have yet to see his eyes.  
"Wh-what do you mean?" I stammer, amazed at the simple fact I can speak. Coherantly even. 'I was stabbed... and... hit over the head...?' I think, wishing I could rub my head.   
"I found you four days ago out in the forest, dying. Don't ask who attacked you because I don't know." He says, turning his back to me. I lay in scilence for a moment and find that I am, indeed, in pain. I wince and hear a cry of pain escape my throat. The man looks over his shoulder at me with a raised eyebrow. "What?"  
"It... it hurts..." I manage to say, my jaw clenching and eyes squeezing shut. Out of one eye I see him turn around and step back towards me.   
I feel and hand on my head where I figure my wound to be, and another on my stomach. The glow appears again at the edges of my vision and after a few seconds the pain has lessened. I open my eyes to see him stepping back.  
"Is that better?" He asks, and for a moment I think I hear genuine concern in his voice. I nod and he nods back then turns back to his table, or counter, or whatever it is. I can't see, it's too dark.  
Everything is silent for a few minutes then he turns back around. "Here, this should help too." He holds out a syringe for me to inspect then injects my arm with it. The purple liquid seeps through my bloodstream, for some strange reason I can feel it spreading. It doesn't burn, it's more like ice running through my veins. And it's... soothing... oddly, oddly soothing. The man pulls the needle out of my arm and I give a sigh of relief.   
"It... doesn't hurt anymore." I say, looking up at him. Light glints off his glasses as he pushes them up.  
"Good." He says, tossing the needle into a red plastic bin, and then turns back to me. "I do hope you heal fully soon, you have alot of learning to do." He says, smirking.  
"Learning?" I ask, furrowing my eyebrows.  
"Yes. You're going to be my new assistant." His smirk turns... well, evil and my eyes widen.  
"Uh... uhm... o-okay?" I stammer, my eyes searching his face for some sort of explaination. He just smirks wider, leaning closer to me. I feel my face heat up and I draw back into the table.  
"Don't worry, it's not like I'm going to experiment on you or anything." He says, patting my cheek. "Well... maybe not. Only time will tell." He leans back up and pushes up his glasses yet again. Seems to be a habit of his. "Now why don't you rest, and you and I can get to work in the morning."  
"O-okay... but wait! I don't even know what to call you!" I call after him as he starts to leave. He turns and looks back at me.  
"It's Kabuto."  
"Kabuto..." I repeat.  
"Right. Now sleep." He says and I nod, watching him leave. When the door clicks shut, I stare up at the celing for a moment.  
'I wonder what's going to happen tomorrow...' I think, letting my eyes drift closed. 'Oh well... guess I'll find out...'

==================================================================================================

"Ka-kabuto... what are you doing?" I asked as he crawled slowly up the bed to me. I had been lying on his bed for a half an hour now, he had told me this morning to come here and wait for him. It was around nine or so, my heart was now pouding as it had that morning, my mind racing through the fantasies I had imagined all these years.  
"Just go with it, Kori-chan..." He said, placing a knee on either side of my waist and his hands above my shoulders. He leaned down slowly to kiss me, his lips brushing agianst my collarbone and up my neck, along my cheek to my lips. I realized what he wanted out of me now. My fantasies were going to come true tonight.   
A small sigh of pleasure escaped my lips as my arms moved of thier own accord up around Kabuto's shoulders. I felt his smirk against my lips as he lowered himself onto me, the weight of his body pushing me back into the mattress, he'd realized that I'd just realized what he had planned. Kabuto's hands slid under my back and up around my shoulders, pressing his chest agianst mine. His lips still rested on mine, I felt his tounge slide over my bottom lip and my lips part to let him in. His tounge moved agianst mine, I could taste the mint tea he always drank. Kabuto pulled back just a bit and ran his tounge over both my lips, as if tasting me.   
"Kori... Are you sure you'll let me...?" He whispered, a slight worried tone hovering over his voice. I nodded slowly with my eyes closed.  
"Yes, Kabuto. You shouldn't have to ask..." I whispered back and slid my hands down his back to his hips. He smirked agianst my lips agian, as if he knew that. Kabuto placed his hands on my waist and slid his fingers under the waistband of my skirt. He pulled it down as I undid the sash around his waist. Pulling off my skirt and tossing it aside, he put his hands back on my hips as he started in on my leggings, as did I with his pants.  
"Kori... You know... I'm glad we're doing this... Really I am." Kabuto said, leaning back just enough to look into my eyes. I opened them and smiled up at him, placing a hand on his cheek.  
"So am I, Kabuto." He smiled back, a soft smile that was a bit hard to read but was still there. He finished with my pants just as I did with his and he slid his hands up my shirt onto my chest. Another small gasp left my throat as Kabuto placed his lips against my neck and softly carresed it with them, gently rubbing my chest also. My hand found the back of his head and his ponytail, I started gently stroking it. Kabuto's hands slid down my sides and he hooked his fingers under the elastic of my underwear, sliding them down. I did the same with his boxers, feeling the muscles in his legs as I slid them down. I shivered a little, both with excitement and with slight cold.  
"K-kabuto... we... have to be fast... Orochimaru-sama...." I started, but got cut off.  
"Don't worry about him Kori." Kabuto said, then looked me in the eyes again. "I won't hurt you, Kori. I promise."  
"I trust you, Kabuto." I said and then he entered me. I squeezed my eyes shut, willing that short amount of pain to leave and pleasure to come. Kabuto rubbed the lower half of his body agianst mine, moving himself inside me, which helped the pain leave. He pressed his lips agianst my neck again, murmuring something against my skin.  
"Wh-what... Kabuto...?" I asked, breathing heavily as he thrust himself deeper.  
"Nothing....Kori..." He whispered, his hot breath sending shivers down my spine. A surprised gasp came out of my throat as Kabuto pressed the lower half of his body hard against mine, pushing him deeper into me. A small moan came from Kabuto as he lifted his head to look into my eyes again. "Kori..." He whispered my name and leaned down once again to press his lips on mine, pouring his heart into it like that first time, except this time more sensual, running his tounge along my lips agian. I enjoyed that and did the same thing to him, once gently biting his lip. Kabuto seemed to like that, as he bit mine back. He lifted his head just slightly and thrusted up into me again, gaining a gasp from me as we both threw our heads back with pleasure and he did the same thing a few more times, as I found myself pressing up agianst him and tightening my grip around his shoulders. Our breathing was getting heavy, I could feel Kabuto's breath tickle my neck and cheek. His sweat mixed with mine, the room was getting warmer. Or at least it felt that way to me. I loved the sensation of being so close to him, of feeling him inside of me. Kabuto's arms tightened around my shoulders as he thrusted into me one more time before letting his weight fall on me and taking a gasp for air. I did too and let my muscles relax a bit.  
"K-kabuto..." I said and felt something wet hit my cheek. I opened my eyes to see Kabuto wiping a tear from his eye, his glasses getting pushed up along his nose. My forehead creased and he opened his other eye and gave me a weak smile.   
"I-it's nothing Kori... I... I just can't get over the fact that for once in my life, I feel truly loved. Safe. Like even Orochimaru-sama can't hurt me." He said, smiling a bit wider. I felt tears welling up in my own eyes and then felt them spill over. Kabuto's face fell a bit.  
"I'm.. i'm happy too. I feel the same way Kabuto..." I was going to say more but he scilenced me with a kiss as he thrust up into me agian, sending a jolt of pleasure through me. He continued doing that, pushing the lower half of his body against mine agian and agian, sliding his arms out from under me and gripping the top of the mattress, pressing me harder against the bed and tensing his muscles as I tightened my grip on his shoulders and pressed myself up, hard, against him. Kabuto shivered and moaned again. We both smiled against each other's lips and I felt the warm liquid come out of Kabuto and into me. It sent a very warm jolt of pleasure through me and I moaned. Kabuto did the same and rested his head on my shoulder, breathing heavily. After a short moment, he pulled himself out and rested most of his weight on me, pressing me against the bed.  
"Kori... was that okay...?" He whispered, his voice muffled from exhaustion and his mouth was against my skin.  
"It was... perfectly okay." I whispered back, also tired. Kabuto lifted his head and pressed his lips against mine, shoving his tounge back in my mouth as if he were saying, "Thank you, Kori. So very much." I worked my lips and tounge agianst his, running my hands over his back and shoulders. As soon as Kabuto's lips left mine, I opened my eyes to find Kabuto undoing the button at my throat and pulling off my shirt. I pushed my hands into his shirt, sliding it up and over his head. After looking at me for a moment, surveying something he had never seen before, my body, Kabuto's head dropped onto my chest and he gently placed his head to the side of my breast, kissing the spot over my heart, as I placed my hand on his head agian. We layed there for a few moments like that, Kabuto gently carressing me with his lips and I softly stroking the back of his head.   
"Kabuto... what time is it...?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper and my eyes closed.  
"Probably around eleven or so..." He mumbled, his voice still muffled agianst my skin. I nodded slowly. "Are you getting tired, Kori...?" Kabuto asked, looking up at me through his eyelashes and bangs.  
"A...a little..." I said, letting out another sigh. Kabuto pushed himself up, his hands above my shoulders agian. He lay down beside me and pulled the blankets up around us, winding his arms around me and pulling me close. He kissed my forehead and squeezed me tight, as I wrapped my arms around him and kissed his neck. It was Kabuto's turn to sigh as I did, and he rested his cheek against the top of my head. Laying in Kabuto's arms was nice, I felt truly safe and protected. Lifting my head just enough to see his eyes, I spoke.  
"Kabuto?" I asked, and he looked down.  
"Kori?" He asked, mocking me a bit, which made me smile.  
"I love you, Kabuto. With all my heart." I said, once agian amazed at the power of my voice as I said those words. Kabuto smiled.  
"I love you too, Kori. Will you stay with me forever? Always be mine?" He asked, stroking the side of my face and hair gently, all while looking intensely into my eyes.  
"Yes." I said without hesitation, which made Kabuto's eyes tear up again. He let out a single laugh, and wiped his eyes agian while mine filled up. Through my tears I saw Kabuto giving me a brilliant smile, one I had never seen before. He placed his hand over my heart and I did the same to him.   
"You remember when I whispered earlier? When you couldn't hear me?" Kabuto asked, his voice now hardly above a whisper. I nodded. "I was telling myself to be gentle. I..." He took a breath, still exhausted. "I had to tell myself not to hurt you." I turned so my head was tucked under his chin and my lips pressed against his throat.  
"Even if you had of hurt me, I'd be fine. Med-nin remember?" I said and smirked agianst his skin. He laughed and wrapped his arms around me again, pulling me tight agianst his body. I tipped up my head and wrapped my arms around him, pulling him just as close. Kabuto met his lips with mine and gave me the most wonderful kiss I could ever hope for. One full of love, of promise. Kabuto wasn't going to leave me. He'd protect me. And I'd do the same for him, as best I could. And with this night, we might even end up having a family. Something I hoped would happen.


	17. The Revised Plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is how the revised version was meant to go! Obviously it's not gonna get finished.

Kori is descended from the Senju which makes her have super secret special powers that she doesn’t even know about. She is taken in by Kabu due to these powers and he tells her that she is going to take care of Oro while he’s away. But he tells Oro that he’s helping Kori become strong enough to be a new body for him if he needs one. 

His true intentions though are to create a new sage using Kori’s genes and Sasuke’s. But when Kori turns up sterile this makes him hit a snag in his plan. 

Another snag is that he develops feelings for her out of mostly pity, but also of a mutual understanding of being forced to work under someone. He’s able to use these feelings to reassure Kori and keep her trusting him, but also to keep his own sanity. 

After Kori finds out the plan about her and Sasuke (by finding the fertility drugs Kabu’s been slipping her), she runs. She runs to Konoha to hide from Kabu and Oro, even though she believes that she’s in love with Kabuto. In all reality this is part Genjutsu, created by Kabu to again keep her trusting him. But some of the feelings are indeed real. 

Kabuto lets her run understanding that it’s highly possible she’ll meet with Naruto, and in turn Kyubi. Knowing the 9 tail’s power and chakra he sets Kori’s body up before she leaves, leaving a small chakra seal on her that will draw Kyubi’s chakra in unbeknownst to the girl or the monster. With this chakra the child he still plans on having Kori carry will be even healthier and strong, possibly more powerful. 

Also knowing she’ll be near Tsunade and Sakura, both masters of Tsu’s medical art form, he leaves Genjutsu-based implants in her mind, prompting her to ask the two to teach her what they know. Even though she ran away from him she happily stores the info, since she, like Kabuto gathers whatever knowledge she can find. Kabuto counts on that trait, knowing that she’ll spill the secrets once he gets her back. 

When Kori runs away she fully believes she is a good girl. And while she does indeed have a good heart, her evil streak is very prominent. Kabuto pushes back the evil side before she runs. But as she spends more time in Konoha she remembers her past, remembers evil things she’s done. The Genjutsu breaks, causing her true nature to shine through. Due to this she murders Hanabi and goes back to Oto, bringing the Byakugan to Oro and Kabuto. 

Upon this occasion, Kabu decides to present Kori with a gift of his own. He asks her to sleep with him, out of gratitude, but his ulterior motive being wanting to create a stronger Senju using his genes and Kori’s. She agrees, partly because she does love him but partly because the Kyubi chakra is causing her to be filled with lust. She senses some Kyubi chakra in Kabuto, picked up while he was in the forest of death with Naruto during the chunnin exams. So they sleep together, and Kori ends up pregnant.

With the full-out release of basically everything, as they are laying together after they’ve finished, Kabuto breaks down his walls some and lets Kori into his past, letting her see his loneliness. She touches him tenderly, telling him that he doesn’t have to be lonely anymore and they share an actual loving kiss, the first and one of very few they’ll ever have.


	18. The Second Draft

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The second draft is much more polished, but suffers from being unfinished even more than the first. I liked this one better, but someone else decided it's trajectory and I decided I didn't want to follow his ideas anymore.

“It’s just a routine patrol, Orochimaru-sama. I’ll be back very soon.” I said, pushing my glasses up on my nose and turning to look at my lord over my shoulder. He was seated in a chair, hunched over and starting to look weak. It would be time for another body transfer soon; the one he was currently using was beginning to wear out.   
“F…ine, Kabuto-kun…” He hissed, closing his eyes and trying to block out the pain his arms were currently causing him. I nodded once and left, shutting the door behind me. I was indeed going on a patrol, but I also had an ulterior motive. I needed a freaking break.  
“Much as I enjoy working for Orochimaru-sama… that smell in the lab is too much sometimes…” I sighed and took the stairs two at a time, heading up and out of the Sound Complex. The sun was bright outside and I had to squint and shade my eyes until they adjusted. But at least the air up here was clean and fresh. Taking a deep breath of it, I started on the northern side of the Complex, working my way around the edge and widening my senses to try and spot anything that wasn’t normal. Besides a few stray animals, there wasn’t anything. Orochimaru had picked this spot well, no one had figured out our location. I relaxed a little, and started walking along the western border, still not spotting anything. Until I made it to the corner.  
“Now… that’s new…” I hopped up into the trees and followed the small pulse of chakra that I’d caught onto. About four hundred yards away I stopped, feeling the source under me. I swung out of the tree and landed silently, looking around. I was actually a little bit surprised at what I saw. There were a couple bodies lying around, one a man, another a woman and then a girl. She looked about sixteen, brown hair the shade of caramel candy tied up tight into a ponytail that matched the other woman’s. The older pair was obviously dead, if the kunai sticking out of their chests were any indication. I didn’t pay much attention to them besides removing the weapons and sealing the bodies into a scroll to be used later. But the girl, she didn’t have quite the wounds the others did. There was a large gash on her head and some of her hair was missing, as if she’d been scalped. Her stomach was cut and was bleeding profusely. The wound on her head was bleeding and matting her hair, and had made its way down the side of her head onto her shoulder, staining a light-blue shirt that had a high collar, no sleeves, and black buttons holding it together. My eyes roamed over the rest of her body, over a slightly prominent but hidden chest, past the gash in her stomach and over a black skirt. Gray leggings covered well-toned leg muscles, and sandals much like my own were on her feet. After watching her for a moment, I saw her chest rise just ever so slightly. She was still alive. My eyebrows arched in surprise and I walked over to her, kneeling near her shoulder and holding a chakra-infused hand over her chest.  
“Unn…” She moaned, her fingers twitching. I pressed a finger to her lips.  
“Shh. Just relax.” I whispered, concentrating harder on her injuries. With a little effort I stopped her bleeding and had sealed the cut on her stomach. As the glow around my hand faded her eyes fluttered open, focusing on me. They were a dark green, almost matching the foliage of the forest. I noticed out of the corner of my eye but didn’t say anything, instead focusing on her chakra. It was… familiar. There was something old about it, and powerful.   
“It… it hurts…” She mumbled, raising a shaky hand to the side of her head. “Wh-who are you?” She gave me, or tried to give me, a steely gaze, but it only made her look ridiculous. I suppressed a laugh and pushed her arm back down.  
“The man who probably just saved your life and could easily take it away again. If you’d like me to do that, go ahead and keep talking.” With reluctance she laid still and quieted, letting out a small sigh. I kept studying her chakra, trying to compare it with the others I had felt in my lifetime. I knew I’d recognized it, but for the life of me I couldn’t remember where. It was going to take some further study. And since this girl was obviously strong, she could come in handy. I was starting to see some promise in her. “I’m going to take you with me and heal you further.” I said, letting my chakra dissipate then sliding my arms under her, one under her knees and the other under her back. She winced a little but was otherwise silent. Getting a more secure grip I shifted her in my arms and stood, deciding not to use the trees this time. The girl was quiet for awhile, and then spoke softly as we neared the Complex.  
“… Do you know who I am?”


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one has my absolute favorite bit of dialogue I've ever written in it.

The girl was sedated, her breathing calm and slow, lips parted just a bit as her chest rose and fell in a calm, steady rhythm. I had her strapped to the table, but not tightly. Just enough to keep her from rolling around and/or falling off onto the hard floor. I didn’t need any more damage to be caused to this body.   
“What… do you have there, Kabuto-kun…?” I jumped just slightly at the sound of Orochimaru’s voice, turning to him and blinking. I pushed my glasses up and motioned to the girl’s body, holding my hand out as if presenting it.  
“A stray I picked up in the forest. There were two more that had been killed; the bodies will now serve my purposes.” I allowed myself a slight smirk, and Orochimaru smiled back.  
“Be careful with the strays, Kabuto-kun. They could turn into spies…” He hissed the s, narrowing his eyes towards her still form. I nodded.  
“Of course, my Lord. If the girl lives I hope to turn her into a guard for you, to use while I am away.” Orochimaru smirked at me and nodded. I bowed my head as he left, a snake slithering after him. I shook my head and turned back to the girl, running a chakra-covered hand along her stomach. I had been right about the old chakra. The girl had traces of the Senju in her. Not enough to make her a full-fledged member of the clan, but somewhere in her family tree was the surname Senju. I was sure of it.   
Which meant she probably had abilities that she didn’t even know about, or at least couldn’t remember. I was so very curious as to what these were, and that’s why she was still here. If her bloodline was any other, she would be simply a puppet for me now, joining her two companions. But I was going to study this girl, and possibly find out a few things for Orochimaru as well.  
“Ah… uhn...” The girl moaned, her head turning to the side and her fingers twitching. My attention turned to her face, which was twisted into a grimace, her eyes squeezed shut.  
“Shh, it’s alright. The pain will fade soon.” I whispered, gently laying a hand on her forehead and letting soothing chakra flow into it. The cut on her head had healed miraculously fast, with little to none of my help. I was beginning to wonder if this girl had med-nin skills as well. Her moaning quieted and her eyes began to flutter open. “Good morning. How do you feel?” I asked, keeping my gaze on her eyes.  
“Still… hurting… but not as much.” She said, sighing. Then she looked around and blinked a few times, probably getting used to the light. “Where am I?”  
“My…” I figured ‘lab’ wasn’t a good term to use at the moment, nor ‘workspace’. “My office.” I cringed at my word choice but it was the best I could come up with.  
“Some office.” She muttered, looking pointedly at a body under a sheet. “What are you, a coroner?”  
“Yes.” I suppose some of what I did could be labeled as coroner’s work, so it wasn’t entirely a lie.  
“Hm.” She wasn’t speaking much now, but I could tell she was much more alert than before.  
“Have you remembered anything?” I asked, turning her attention back to me.  
“Just your eyes.” She said, looking right into them. I frowned slightly.  
“Anything else?”  
“Your heartbeat.” I paused.  
“What? My heartbeat?”  
“Yes. When you were carrying me. My head was against your chest, I could hear it.” The girl’s eyes had roamed back to the table. I stepped in front of it so she would look at me again.  
“Have you remembered who attacked you? Or how you got your injuries?”  
“No and no. Why do you care so much anyways? You could have left me there to die; I know I was close to doing just that.”   
“You think me evil?”  
“No. Just a pain in the ass.” Now that struck a chord.  
“I just saved your life. And I did say I could easily take it away again… Would you like me to?” I stepped closer to her, letting my hand be surrounded with softly glowing chakra.  
“I guess. I can’t remember anything so I suppose I’m of no use to you and your lord anyways.” She closed her eyes then and I stopped.  
“What did you hear?”  
“A snake-like voice warning you that I could be a spy. He sounded awful, who’s he?” Her eyes opened again and focused on me, giving me a questioning look.  
“A very brilliant and dangerous man.” That was the best I could give without blowing the secret entirely.  
“Such a vague description.” The girl muttered, her eyes slipping closed again.  
“Yes.” I watched her silently, then took her hand gently and checked her pulse.  
“Holding your prisoner’s hand? Reverse Stockholm syndrome?” She asked, a smirk growing on her face. I frowned.  
“Checking your pulse. Looks like you’re still alive. Although you wouldn’t know it by how much you’re talking.” I grumbled. She really was beginning to get on my nerves, and normally I was a very patient man.  
“What’s your name?” She asked, and her tone wasn’t dripping with sarcasm this time. I raised my gaze back to her’s. Her green eyes had gained more color since she’d been healing, and were now the color of spring grass instead of trees.  
“Kabuto.” I said simply, not noticing I was still holding her hand until she moved it. I quickly took my own back and lowered my gaze to the small tray-table next to her table, where my tools rested. As I lined them up she spoke.  
“I would tell you mine, but I don’t remember it.” She smirked when I glanced at her and I smirked back. “Maybe you should give me one.”  
“Give you a name, hm? I get to pick it?” I walked to the other side of her bed to examine the gash in her head, brushing her hair back gently as to not disturb the wound. She still cringed, it was a sensitive spot.  
“Mhm. Just nothing bad.”  
“Hmm…” I thought as I ran my fingers lightly over the new skin that was beginning to grow. It was very nearly healed, and new hair would begin growing soon as well. “Seeming as your attitude towards me is as cold as ice, I think I’ll name you Kori. Is that bad?” I asked, looking down at her. She laughed lightly.  
“Nah! I like it. Kori. It works.” She said and smirked, closing her eyes again. “Kabuto and Kori.” She whispered, and I could tell she was drifting off again.  
“Yes, Kabuto and Kori.” I whispered back, taking my hand off her head and stepping back. “Rest well, Kori.”  
I walked up the stairs and out of the room, not noticing the small smirk on my face. But Orochimaru did.  
“What is so funny, Kabuto-kun…?” He asked, tilting his head at me, causing his long hair to fall over his eye.  
“Ah, nothing, Orochimaru-sama.” I bowed my head and quickly made my way to my room, cursing myself for letting emotion slip through. If there was anything that would give away a secret plan it was the emotion showing on your face.  
And this was one secret plan I could not have someone else know. Not now. Later, when I was beginning to put it into action, but definitely not now.


	20. Chapter 20

“I reaaaaally hate you right now, Kabuto.” I sneered, glaring up at him from where he was hanging above me from a tree limb.  
“Oh, I had a feeling you might.” He smirked and leapt across to another branch, leaving me on the ground to roll my eyes and cross my arms.  
“What are we doing out here again?” I grumbled, leaning against the tree’s trunk as Kabuto hopped around like a monkey from branch to branch, peering through the leaves for something that he could see but obviously I couldn’t.  
“I already told you.” Was his only answer. That was the way of things around here, I’d come to figure out. You get told once what to do and if you forget it you’re shit out of luck. I banged my head against the bark of the tree once, rolling my eyes again as Kabuto landed on the ground in front of me, irritation showing clearly on his face.  
“We’re patrolling the area.” He crossed his arms as well and narrowed his eyes ever so slightly at me, the way he did when he was irritated. Which… well… honestly, happened a lot.  
“Right.” I shook my head and shoved his shoulder, hopping up into the tree before he could retaliate with what was sure to be a chakra-scalpel-swing. That was one of his tricks that I hadn’t quite learned yet.   
In the beginning, when Kabuto first pulled me off the forest floor, I didn’t know – or didn’t remember – how to defend myself. As such it was up to Kabuto to teach me. I had learned how to throw a kunai, but wasn’t very good at it. I preferred the long, thin needles called senbon. If you threw them with enough accuracy and force, you could easily pierce through someone’s neck or even (with more accuracy) straight into their heart. I’d “killed” a few dummies this way, my aim was ever improving. I was now able to throw a bull’s-eye into a training post from about fifty yards away.  
I was slowly learning the art of medicine as well. Healing did not interest me at all. Saving people’s lives? Didn’t happen in this part of the world. Kabuto’s, I mean. We were more prone to well… taking things apart and putting them back together in another way. I was, at least. It was a blooming hobby of mine.  
And you now believe me to be sick and twisted. Oh well. I kind of am.  
“Kori! You’re going too far!” Kabuto yelled from behind me, grabbing the back of my shirt and jerking me back. I gasped and felt my feet leave the branch they were on, hanging from Kabuto’s hand over what much have been a 20 foot drop.  
“Damn you Kabuto! Damn you! Let go of me!” I yelled and he chuckled, doing just that. My heart hit my throat as I dropped, then my instincts took over and I focused chakra into my hands and feet, cushioning my fall. I looked up into the trees and there the jackass stood, his arms crossed over his chest and a self-satisfied smirk on his face.  
“You did in fact say ‘let go of me.’” He spoke calmly and clearly, obviously not fighting to hide his amusement whatsoever. I rolled over onto my back and laid down, closing my eyes. Through the small slit of my eyelids I saw Kabuto tilt his head and then felt and heard a soft thump on the ground next to me.  
“… Are you alright?” He asked, smoothing a hand over my head where I’d been injured before. I smirked and grabbed his hand, planting a foot against his stomach and using that to flip him onto his back with a hard ‘thump’.  
“There. Payback collected, jackass.” I poked his cheek with my foot then hopped up into the trees before he could catch me. I was brave enough to dish out this stuff, but not brave enough to take the consequences. I heard him scramble up the tree behind me, growling under his breath. I smirked and dashed off, back towards the compound. Kabuto could bite me, patrolling time was over.  
“Kori! Get back here! Our job isn’t finished!” He yelled, and I felt a senbon graze my shoulder, tearing my shirt. Oh, he’d pay for that later.  
“Oh bite me! Do it yourself!” I called back, jumping over the fence that surrounded our home – if you could call it that – and flipping him the middle finger before running inside. “Heehee.” I grinned as I leaned against the closed door, flipping the lock and strolling down the hall. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going, and smacked into someone, falling flat on my ass.  
“Wha? Who the hell are you?” I asked, rubbing my backside and frowning at this newcomer. He narrowed his eyes and looked away, walking around me. I frowned more and crossed my arms. “Excuse me, talking to you.”  
“Don’t care.” He said and kept walking down the hall. His black hair stuck out from the back of his head like the feathers on a duck’s butt. This shouldn’t have angered me as much as it did, but I slid a senbon out of the pouch on my belt and tossed it at his shoulder, like Kabuto had done outside. It grazed his shoulder just like Kabuto’s had mine. The guy’s hand went to his shoulder and he turned and glared at me. I grinned.  
“Gonna pay attention now?” I asked sweetly.  
“No.” He said, turned, and kept walking.  
“… Fine. If you’re here you’ll be here awhile anyway. Alive or dead. Maybe I’ll get to play with your body sooner or later!” I said, keeping my cheerful tone while inside I was burning with annoyance and frustration.  
“I doubt that.” Oh I could hear the smug smirk in his voice. That was the last he said before he unlocked the door and Kabuto slammed it open, nearly hitting the new guy in the face. I don’t think he noticed though, because his glare was fixed on me. I gulped and grinned, giving Kabuto a little wave.  
“Kori…” He said, and I saw his fists clench.  
“Yes dear?” I asked, grinning wider but preparing to run at the same time.  
“That’s her name? Kori?” The newcomer asked, rubbing the shoulder that the door had hit. Kabuto snapped out of his rage and blinked, looking at duck-butt-hair. (I had decided that was going to be his new nickname.)  
“Ah. Sasuke-kun.” Kabuto relaxed and pushed up his glasses. “Yes, this is my assistant, Kori.” He held out his hand. “You won’t be seeing much of her. Don’t worry. I’m really the only one to have to deal with this troublemaker.” I frowned at that. I was a prankster but not a troublemaker. Well. Maybe today I was.  
“… Alright.” Sasuke nodded once and then walked out the door, shutting it behind him. I raised my eyebrow.  
“And he’s here… why?” I asked, leaning against the wall. Kabuto’s eyes focused on me again.  
“None of your business. Leave him alone.” He said and I rolled my eyes, leaning my head against the wall.  
“But I’m boooored…” I whined, and then gulped when I saw the wicked grin on Kabuto’s face.  
“Oh, I can think of plenty of things for you to do if you’re bored… don’t you worry.”  
I gulped again. It was Kabuto, how could I NOT worry?


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter I ever wrote!  
> Eventually Kori's going to become a full-on OC instead of a self-insert OC, and she'll have her own fleshed out story that makes sense and wasn't thrown together fanfic by two people who couldn't agree on a plot.

Unsurprisingly, I got stuck downstairs in the lab and made to wash and put away equipment. I was washing out a large pan that had held… something dark and slimy… and cursing out Kabuto in my mind. What an asshole. I rolled my eyes and swished some water around in the pan, attempting in vain to get the last bit of the slime out. “Ugh, this is disgusting…” I muttered, dumping out the gray water and scrubbing at the metal again.   
“It’s your punishment for running away from patrol duty.” Kabuto was sitting at his desk behind me, calmly writing up a report from the last autopsy he’d done to give to Lord Orochimaru. Still didn’t understand why he needed those things, Kabuto was the one who cared about the bodies. I was also confused as to why he had a desk so close to the sink, but hey not like I had any say in these matters.  
“Ya well, both the duty and the punishment suck.” I frowned and finally managed to get more of the slime off, rinsing the pan for a fourth time. I heard Kabuto chuckle and I looked over my shoulder at him. “What the hell is so funny, huh?” I growled, flicking water at him and his precious reports.  
He sighed and brushed away water droplets, smirking at me. “Just thinking. You’re like a little housewife. Washing up after the men make a mess and making sure we’re all fed.” He grinned, turning his gaze back to his papers. I scoffed.  
“The only reason I’m made to cook is because neither of you know how to do so. And you’re lucky I learned at all or you and Lord Orochimaru both would be living off instant noodles and raw meat.” I turned back to the dishes and sighed as I gave in and dug up some steel wool from the cabinet.  
“So you’re agreeing that you’re a housewife?” Kabuto asked, his teasing tone grating on my ears. I rolled my eyes again.  
“If I am one, I am most definitely not yours.” I turned around and pointed at him to emphasize my point, making sure we were clear. He just smirked again and drew another character on the sheet. I dropped the pan and steel wool in the sink and wandered towards him, planting my wet hands on the edge of his desk and peering at his report. “What is that, anyways?”  
“Nothing of your concern.” He said calmly, moving it into a drawer at his side and pulling a different sheet closer to begin filling that out.  
“What about that one?” I tilted my head to try to read the words better.  
“Again nothing of your concern. Go back to the dishes please, Kori.”  
“Aw come on. Just a hint.” I said, leaning down and putting my elbows on the desk, purposely sticking my chest at the level of his eyes. I saw him glance towards it for a moment then he smiled and looked into my eyes.  
“Kori you have never been able to seduce me into anything, what makes you think it’ll work now?” He grinned and took ahold of my chin, pulling me closer. I suppressed a gulp but my eyes widened. “Now, will you please get back to doing what I asked of you?” His eyes never left mine, and the smirk that I swear was evil never left his lips. I stuck my tongue out at him and pulled away, turning away to hide the fact that he had actually frightened me.  
“Ya, ya, stop your whining.” I flicked what remained of the water on my hands towards him, keeping my face out of view. Boy when he wanted to be scary he could. I just wish he wouldn’t.

=======================================

“Thank you, Kori.” I said lightly, my smirk fading back into a normal expression as my attention turned to my paperwork again. Pulling the paper from my drawer, I shook my head slightly at the data in front of me. This couldn’t be right. I would probably have to check again. If what was on this paper was in fact true, my whole plan would go to ruin. I allowed myself a soft sigh and glanced up to see if Kori had noticed. She hadn’t, because she had started singing a song that I didn’t recognize, but apparently she knew by heart. That was a new development. Kori hadn’t sang since she’d been here, and especially not something that had come from somewhere else. I made a mark on the paper I had pulled from my drawer. I’d had to hide it from the girl because it was her latest test results.  
“Hey, pain in the ass man, what do you want for dinner anyways?” Kori called over her shoulder and I rolled my eyes at the nickname that I was – shockingly – growing accustomed to.   
“Anything but Miso, please. You’ve made it for a week straight, maybe more.” I kept my gaze down, pretending to be studying the document intensely. Kori laughed.  
“I did that on purpose to see if you and the Lord o’ Snakes would even notice.” She turned and I looked up to see her smirking. “What will it be then, oh great coroner of Sound?”   
“Well. As I said. Anything but Miso.” I smirked back at her and returned to reading through my data, shuffling papers around my desktop. I really was done with my paperwork, just enjoying messing with Kori, who groaned.  
“Seriously? You’re making my life difficult here. Pick something.” She crossed her arms, water droplets running off her fingers and over her elbows, landing on her shirt and spreading as the material soaked it up. “Kabuto! Hey! Stop looking at my chest and tell me!” She was suddenly right in front of me and I looked up, eyebrows raised.  
“I was far from staring at what little of a chest you have, Kori.” I grinned which only seemed to heighten her anger, for she smacked a hand down on my desk.  
“You jackass! Maybe I’ll just let you starve.” She said, giving me a ‘and I mean it, too’ look. I just smiled, nodding.  
“I’m sure Lord Orochimaru, or what is it that you called him? The Lord o’ Snakes? Would be very pleased to hear that he isn’t getting any food tonight. He may just eat your precious little pet bird instead.” That got her attention. Kori had rescued a bird from the forest, and had healed it’s broken wing with my instruction. I had planned to just release it back into the wild afterwards, but it seemed to have grown attached to Kori instead. As such, I’d begrudgingly allowed her to keep it. It stayed in her room, flitting in and out the window as it saw fit. Somehow Kori had trained it to return to her with a four-note whistle.  
“Oh the hell he will. Fine, I’ll just use the rest of the Soba noodles or something. I doubt you’re going to get any meat unless you go out hunting.” Kori dropped her hands to her sides and went back to the sink, rinsing out the pan she’d been working on for roughly fifteen minutes for the last time and setting it on the counter to dry. I smirked again, satisfied for the moment with my teasing, but my smirk dropped as I looked back down to my report.   
‘This is terrible.’ I thought, shaking my head quietly. ‘Without Kori this plan doesn’t work. I will have to run another test as soon as possible to make sure this isn’t true. That she isn’t sterile.’


End file.
